Monday was a massive day for [autotag]JJ Redick[/autotag]. It was officially the first day of an entirely new chapter in his life as he was introduced as the 29th head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers at a press conference.
Redick was the Lakers’ choice after an offseason that saw them pursue and fail to land Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley. Redick was an early option to replace Darvin Ham, who was replaced after the Lakers got bounced from the NBA playoffs by the Denver Nuggets for a second consecutive season.
Redick could not interview and meet with Lakers brass as he was an analyst for the NBA Finals. It wasn’t until after the Boston Celtics’ 4-1 win over the Dallas Mavericks that the Lakers could sit down and get into the fine details with Redick.
Redick connected with Lakers Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka, and if this hiring pans out, that relationship will be meaningful in the future.
“It was very evident that he had a unique perspective and philosophy on basketball and how it’s to be taught,” Pelinka said at the introductory press conference.
Pelinka also reiterated that he and Redick share “a basketball philosophy that was very similar, and it was based on high-level strategy, it was based on a certain way of communicating with players and teaching them,” in addition to “prioritizing player development.”
With things official, what’s next for Redick as he prepares for his first season as a professional basketball coach?
Picking a staff and preparing for the NBA draft, plus NBA free agency, are the big ones for Redick.
Where does Redick get a coaching staff when he is not a coach with prior coaching connections? There have been murmurs that the Lakers and Redick are united on the notion that Redick’s assistants are fellow high-IQ minds like himself mixed with multiple former coaches with head coaching experience. That would be of real value to Redick, who doesn’t know what it takes yet to handle a locker room, especially in a locker room led by LeBron James.
Roster construction matters more than ever, and for the Lakers, it matters even more because they don’t have the financial wiggle room to be free spenders. They’ll have even less once we consider their plan to offer what would likely be LeBron James’ final contract as a Laker.
James has until June 29 to opt into the final year of his current contract, which would pay him $51.4M for the upcoming 2024-2025 season, but the expectation is that he’ll forgo that player option and become a free agent. Any new deal would only have a three-year max because James is 39, and the NBA employs an over-38 rule that stipulates that no player over that age can sign for more than three years.
Assuming LeBron returns to LA at his age, he can’t be the focal point anymore. Redick should look to building the roster around star forward Anthony Davis more. He discussed that in the conference when referring to Davis and how he planned to use him.
“One of the things I brought up with him is just the idea of him as a hub,” Redick said. “There’s a bunch of guys at the five position in the NBA that operate that way. I don’t know that he’s been used that way and maximized all his abilities.”
With that said, shooting, wing defense, and competent depth down low to take some of the load off Anthony Davis nightly were significant holes in the Lakers last year. The Lakers have a first-round pick in the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft, where they pick 17th. College Sports Wire’s Andy Patton mocked a player from a familiar school to the Lakers in Wednesday’s opening round.
Patton mocked Kyle Filipowski from Duke University for LA’s first-round pick. Filipowski has the size and skill to be a floor-spacing big that the Lakers could slot in and around Anthony Davis. He can handle the ball, as we’ve seen for Duke, and he has a wide array of offensive skills that complement Davis.
The Lakers’ new head coach and Pelinka, his new boss, both spent a significant amount of time harping on player development and how that would guide LA in the short and long term. Redick riffed about communicating with players already under contract about how they can improve and how they will function in his offensive and defensive system. For Redick, he spent his college years playing under one of the most outstanding teachers ever to grace the game of basketball, Coach K.
If this new venture is to work for Redick, it’ll have to be in the hands to create a culture and mentality in LA. This is something that has been missing for the Purple and Gold since the days of Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson.
“The pursuit of greatness can’t be miserable,” Redick said. “Every day somebody walks into this building, they have to enjoy it. I think part of being a coach, right, is, like, ‘Can I maximize each player?’ That helps maximize the group. And does everybody in the building, not just the players and staff, does everybody in the building enjoy coming to work every day? That’s sort of on me to create that culture.”