Much has been made about the Los Angeles Lakers looking to part ways with head coach Frank Vogel. According to reports, LA was seriously considering firing Vogel only to have a last-minute change of heart.

In a recent episode of Yahoo Sports' Posted Up podcast, NBA insider Chris Haynes revealed that the Lakers already had a plan in place in terms of Vogel's interim replacement. The candidate might come as a surprise for many considering how most fans wouldn't necessarily consider him as a clear first choice for LA:

“The Lakers are moving forward and going to allow him to finish out the season as head coach,” Haynes said (h/t Peter Dewey of Lakers Daily). “It was dicey there these last couple of weeks. Definitely the Lakers were considering making a move.

“I was told — sources told me at that time, if there was going to be an interim coach to take over, I think a lot of people probably would assume it was going to be David Fizdale, but I had a lot of people telling me that it would have been Phil Handy to take over as interim head coach.”

David Fizdale joined the Lakers this season as an assistant to Vogel and the general belief is that he would be LA's top pick as a temporary replacement if they opt to part ways with Vogel. Prior to signing for LA, Fizdale had head coaching stints with the Memphis Grizzlies and the New York Knicks, making him a competent choice for the Lakers front office, at least experience-wise.

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Handy, on the other hand, has been an assistant coach for the Lakers since 2019. This is actually his second stint in Hollywood after serving as a development coach under Mike Brown between 2011 and 2013. Handy followed Brown when he was hired as the head coach for the Cavs and it is worth noting that Handy was part of all four of Cleveland's LeBron James-led title runs (although Fizdale was also an assistant coach in Miami during LeBron's Big 3 era). Phil Handy, however, does not have any head coaching experience under his belt.

The good news for Frank Vogel here is that his job appears to be safe — for the time being, at least. We're pretty sure he knows at the back of his mind that he has a couple of able replacements waiting in the wings, and this is probably just one of the many things that keep him up at night.