JJ Redick was hired to change things for the Los Angeles Lakers. But he’s keeping one big thing the same.
The Lakers head coach revealed in an interview on ESPN’s “The Lowe Post” podcast that he will be starting the team’s most-used lineup from last season: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
“Yeah. It will be the starting five that went 23-10 last year,” Redick said.
Even though Lakers training camp don’t start until next week, Redick clearly believes he already knows what will work best for the team. Last season, the James-led quintet was used a team-high 388 minutes, per Basketball Reference, and outscored the competition by 6.8 points per 100 possessions.
While it makes sense to go with what worked last season, the reason Redick has this job in the first place is how badly last season went under previous head coach Darvin Ham. The Lakers finished eighth in a competitive Western Conference with a 47-35 record, but were unceremoniously bounced by the Denver Nuggets in a first-round gentleman’s sweep.
Redick attempted to explain what will be different with the lineup and team in general, and it basically boiled down to taking more shots in the paint and at the 3-point line, while pushing for more rebounds on offense:
“I think in terms of what the offense looks like, there will be a decent amount of movement. The shot profile will hopefully improve. You know, we’ve talked about ways to create more paint touches. We’ve talked about ways to shoot more threes.
“We’ve talked about some of the leeway that you have to give certain players with their mid-range shots, whether that’s in the post or isolation. But hopefully the shot profile improved. I think from a possession standpoint, one of the margins this team created last year, and historically with this group, has been free throws.
“Outside of that, there hasn’t been a lot of margin creation, so we’re going to try to create some margins. One of which is, we’re really going to emphasize offensive rebounding, corner crashes.”
Redick doesn’t have many options beyond teaching an old lineup new tricks after a static Lakers offseason in which the team barely added any meaningful contributors. The team was limited from a cap space standpoint, especially after Russell picked up his $18.7 million player option, and every veteran for whom James was willing to take a pay cut to accommodate signed elsewhere. James ended up signing a two-year, $104 million max deal.
The Lakers’ notable additions were through the draft, with No. 17 pick Dalton Knecht and No. 55 pick Bronny James. Knecht, a 23-year-old sharpshooter from Tennessee, is much more likely to see playing time this season. Redick indicated the G League would figure heavily into the team’s plans to develop the younger James into an NBA player.
Redick also had a curious answer when asked about Anthony Davis’ long-term shooting woes:
“I have a theory around that. I have a theory around that. Not one I’m willing to share publicly … And you know what, if my theory proves correct, I’ll share it with you later in the season. But I have a theory on that.”
The Lakers will get their first chance to show their improvement on Oct. 4 in their preseason opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
