The Los Angeles Lakers are still in the middle of their coaching search, but one primary target has already ruled himself out of the race before talks even began.

As reported earlier, the Michigan Wolverines head coach has declined an invitation to be considered for the Lakers' head coaching vacancy. He remains committed at Ann Arbor where he is coaching his two sons, Jace and Jett.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Lakers have never made a formal offer to Howard. However, things would have progressed quickly had he accepted the invitation.

The Lakers never made a formal offer to Howard, sources said, but it's clear that if he had expressed an interest in the job, his candidacy would've moved quickly to that stage.

Juwan Howard has a relationship with Rob Pelinka and LeBron James, so he would have probably been one of the favorites to land the Lakers job if he showed interest. Unfortunately, that's not the case and the Purple and Gold have to keep searching.

Pelinka and the Lakers are not rushing to name a new coach, though. The likes of Terry Stotts, Darvin Ham and Kenny Atkinson have been named as finalists for the posts, but it is clear the team is doing their due diligence in exploring all their options.