As the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up their play-in and playoff chances with a loss to the Phoenix Suns, there have been a plethora of rumors and speculations about the future state of the organization. Heading to the offseason many of their players have expiring contracts, but the looming question is the status of head coach Frank Vogel as the scapegoat of the abysmal showing by the Lakers this season.

Even before Vogel was hired, he was reportedly not one of the first choices in receiving the coveted job from Luke Walton. Despite the harsh criticism from the fans, Vogel did not mind the doubters and even propelled the Lakers to a championship in the 2020 bubble. Surprisingly, he was just offered an extension until the 2022-23 campaign. It seems unlikely for him to even come back as current Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers has been hinted as a possible replacement to Vogel.

Struggling to maximize potential of his stars

The 2008 Boston Celtics championship was the pinnacle of Rivers' coaching career, but his track record has been subpar in his other stints wherein he had numerous stars on the roster. The Lob City iteration of the Los Angeles Clippers along with the Kawhi Leonard-led batch failed to reach the Western Conference Finals even once.

Those lineups had names with the likes of Leonard, Paul George, Blake Griffin, and Chris Paul, but they drastically showed atrocious performances every single year in the playoffs. If indeed Rivers is at the helm by next season, he will have to deal with the egos of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook in one of the largest cities in the United States. With Joel Embiid and James Harden currently on the 76ers, this could be indicative of Rivers' ability to control a couple of stars with heightened expectations.

Inability to perform brilliant in-series adjustments

In a balanced and competitive seven-game series, coaches have the enormous tasks of adjusting their game plan and schemes based on their opponents. Focusing on just one franchise for two weeks makes preparation very integral, and Rivers has been having trouble rectifying his initial plans when their opponents. For instance, the 76ers had trouble in the playoffs last season in the pick and roll coverage against Trae Young despite having two of the best defenders in the league, Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle.

It is not just with the 76ers, but Rivers is known as the coach who has relinquished three 3-1 leads in the playoffs all throughout his career. When adversity strikes and teams decide to lock-in on the philosophies of Rivers, he seems to lack the quick thinking of formulating contingency plans based on the situation in front of him. That would pose a massive problem for the Lakers because the expectations for them next season is to bounce back with a vengeance and achieve a deep playoff run.

Questionable rotations

In all his coaching stints, Rivers is known to utilize a deep bench that goes as far as 10 or 11 deep rather than staggering the minutes of his stars. That could work out on some instances but not for every roster. With the Lakers expected to have a major revamp with their personnel once again, it would. be difficult for Rivers to maneuver and tinker around the new pieces in L.A.

The injuries of James and Davis will likely still force them to miss a bunch of games next seasons, so Rivers will be heavily challenged in forming excellent chemistry and camaraderie for the Lakers squad that has been lacking that immensely. Some of the best teams this season has been the ones with a robust identity and the common goals of succeeding together.

Having a new coach and gigantic expectations to reach the West Finals instantly would be an insurmountable challenge for Rivers. Moreover, some of the major reasons of the inability for Vogel to showcase his wares was not under his control, such as injuries and poor roster construction. It is not far-fetched for Rivers to experience the same circumstances, and it will not be pleasing for him the whole Lakers fanbase once again.