Darvin Ham is making his head coaching debut with the Lakers this season, but he is already highly esteemed by general managers in the NBA.
He received the most votes in the annual NBA GM survey on the question “Which new or relocated head coach will make the biggest impact on his new team?” With 48% of votes he topped a former NBA champion Mike Brown (31%) who will lead the Kings, Hornets’ Steve Clifford (17%) and Will Hardy (3%). who will make his debut with the Jazz.
Apart from this being his first head coach job, Ham is also given a major task of integrating Russell Westbrook into the team and making him productive after a disappointing last season.
Even though the GMs expect Ham to make the biggest impact on his team, the Lakers are not viewed as powerhouse. Los Angeles is projected to finish 8th in the Western Conference, good enough for a spot in the play-in tournament.
