"They've thrown Dan Hurley the bouquet": NBA analyst claims Lakers are 'on edge' to hire UConn HC as Monday's final verdict awaits

NBA insider Brian Windhorst claims the Los Angeles Lakers have made UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley a massive offer to make him their next head coach. Hurley is expected to make a decision on Monday.

It was revealed last week that the Lakers' No. 1 option for their vacant head coaching job was Hurley, a move which seemingly came out of nowhere. But, after Hurley met with the Lakers, Windhorst says the team feels like they are on the verge of hiring him.

"The Lakers are on edge about this because they've thrown Dan Hurley the bouquet, so to speak. They've given him presumably the largest coaching contract offer in the history of the franchise, they brought him out to give him their vision and he's been home for several days with no offer," Windhorst said on First Up.

"Meanwhile, other candidates that they are interested in are moving on elsewhere... Their situation is that they have so prioritized Dan Hurley that they have left potential candidates to go off the board elsewhere. It took them a while to get Dan Hurley interested enough to seriously engage with them, they got that engagement and they got to hope they were able to close it," Windhorst added.

It is interesting that Hurley got offered the biggest contract for a head coach in Lakers history, which is saying something as Los Angeles has had plenty of legendary coaches. But, whether or not the offer was enough to persuade him to take the job is yet to be seen.

Dan Hurley says the Lakers have made a compelling case

Dan Hurley was in Los Angeles to meet with the Lakers on Friday and he said that the team has made a compelling case.

Hurley went home after the meeting but in a phone interview with ESPN, the Huskies head coach said "he left "extremely impressed" with Lakers VP and GM Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss and had been spending Sunday weighing what sources tell ESPN is a massive, long-term offer to move to the NBA."

Hurley has been the head coach of the UConn Huskies since 2018 and has led the program to back-to-back national championships. With the Huskies, he has gone 141-58.