Monty Williams did more than just help Philadelphia prepare for the second round of the NBA playoffs.

League sources confirmed to The Republic that the Phoenix Suns met with the 76ers assistant Friday in Toronto and it was very positive. Philadelphia opened the Eastern Conference semifinals Saturday against the Raptors.

The Suns didn’t make Williams an offer, according to league sources. ESPN has reported that Williams, a former head coach in New Orleans, is Phoenix’s top target.

The Los Angeles Lakers conducted a second interview with Williams on Thursday, but didn’t make an offer to him or Tyronn Lue, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Lakers interviewed Lue on Wednesday.

Williams, 47, has emerged as this offseason's hot head-coaching candidate. He went 173-221 in five seasons as a head coach, which included two playoff appearances in the 2010-11 and 2014-15 seasons for New Orleans.

Newly hired Suns Vice President of Basketball Operations Jeff Bower hired Williams when he was the Pelicans' general manager.

Williams was an associate head coach at Oklahoma City for the 2015-16 season before his wife of 20 years, Ingrid, died from injuries suffered in a car accident in February of that season at the age of 44.

Williams took an indefinite leave from the Thunder, but he returned to the NBA as San Antonio made him its vice president of basketball operations. A former player for the Spurs, Williams spent two seasons there before he joined Philadelphia as an assistant.

Williams looks ready to become a head coach again, but the interview process isn’t traditional because the third-seeded 76ers are still in the playoffs.

That’s why the Suns traveled to Toronto to meet him.

Suns General Manager James Jones is leading the charge for this hire as he officially became Phoenix's permanent GM on April 11 and fired Igor Kokskov on Monday after one season in which the Suns had their second-worst record in franchise history at 19-63.

Williams was an assistant at Portland when Jones was a player with the Trail Blazers for three seasons (2005-08). Williams was an assistant there for five seasons (2005-10).

Phoenix has been granted permission to speak with Portland assistants Nate Tibbetts and David Vanterpool as ESPN is reporting Suns officials will meet with them Saturday.

Like the 76ers, the Trail Blazers are in the playoffs, too.

A third seed, Portland will face the Denver-San Antonio winner in the Western Conference semifinals. The Nuggets and Spurs play a decisive Game 7 in their first-round series Saturday night in Denver.

Lue is an ideal candidate for the Lakers because he was on their 2000 and 2001 NBA championship teams and coached LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to an improbable NBA title in 2016.

Lue took over as head coach after Cleveland fired David Blatt in 2016. The Cavs reached the finals to face Golden State, which had won a league record 73 regular-season games.

The Warriors built a 3-1 series lead, but Cleveland came back to win it in seven games to its first-ever NBA title. Lue and James reached the finals the next two years before losing to Golden State.

So Lue has had major success with James, but Williams is also a strong candidate to replace Luke Walton, who the Lakers fired after going 98-148 in three NBA seasons.

James hadn't missed the playoffs since his second NBA season in 2004-05. After falling short of postseason play in James' first season in Los Angeles, the Lakers fired Walton and are likely looking to find a coach who meets his approval.

Miami Heat assistant Juwan Howard is also a candidate for the Lakers' job as he and James were teammates on back-to-back championship teams in Miami (2012, 2013) that also included Jones.

An assistant with the Heat for six seasons, Howard also played with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka during his Fab Five days in Michigan.

Phoenix hasn’t reached out to Howard, league sources said. This will be the fifth head coach in five seasons for the Suns when they enter the 2019-20 season as they haven't made the playoffs since 2010.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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