Lakers news: Darvin Ham addresses Rasheed Wallace-to-LA rumors

At his intro press conference, Darvin Ham spoke on reports linking Rasheed Wallace to the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff.

Darvin Ham took questions from the media on Monday for the first time since being hired as the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

A few hours prior, Jason Munz of the Memphis News shared that he asked Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway about the status of four-time NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace, who worked on Hardaway's staff last season (and was an assistant for the Detroit Pistons the year prior). Hardaway revealed that Wallace was likely headed to Los Angeles to work under Ham. As teammates, Wallace and Ham won a championship with Detroit in 2004.

Not long after, The Athletic's Shams Charania tweeted that an accord between Wallace and the Lakers had been reached. Shams then (dramatically) revised his reporting to note that Wallace is simply a candidate for the job and no agreement is currently in place.

For further context: Wallace was recently identified as a candidate for Ham’s staff. The two sides have not yet reached a formal contract stage. https://t.co/IPlsixreVL

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 6, 2022

Naturally, Ham was asked about the Sheed speculation at his presser.

“In regards to Rasheed, that's an active situation,” Ham told Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “That's fluid. We're still working through that. That's not true at all, but he's definitely a candidate that we'll take a look at. But we're working through that. We have a list of names and some people that's currently under contract…We're working through that to try to put together the best staff possible.”

https://open.spotify.com/episode/61Ar04k91qqxag5lQwOEe3?si=777bcf3179ac457a

Without mentioning specific names, Ham said he wants to build a coaching staff similar to the one he experienced under Mike Budenholzer — comprised of well-rounded coaches who develop, scout, and game-plan on both sides of the ball, as opposed to specialists or offensive/defensive coordinators.

At the moment, the Lakers have not made any changes to their bench since Ham was hired. However, Ham will have more autonomy over his staff than the organization awarded Frank Vogel.