El Segundo, Calif. — Training camp opening is always a time of unbridled optimism around the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers are no exception.
“I think with this group, probably for the first time in my three years here, I feel like the pieces actually fit together,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said Thursday, speaking to the media.
The Lakers made a major roster overhaul this summer, with LeBron James taking his talents to Philadelphia and the Lakers looking for players who were more on star Luka Doncic’s timeline and fit his style of play. Changes or not, the Lakers’ goal remains the same.
“I’m confident we’re going to develop as a team into a championship-level team this year,” Redick said.
Lakers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka consistently used the word “grateful” when referring to LeBron and his time with the Lakers, and also consistently described the split as “amicable.”
With LeBron gone, the Lakers went into the offseason with “three fundamental pillars” they wanted to accomplish — and felt they did, Pelinka said. Those were:
1) Re-sign Austin Reaves. The Lakers did that with a four-year, $184.8 million deal inked early in free agency.
2) Acquire a franchise center. The Lakers feel they did that in trading for Walker Kessler, but the price was steep: Two first-round picks, plus they gave Kessler a four-year, $130 million contract. It puts a lot of pressure on Kessler.
“I think Walker is a perfect fit for Luka and AR, just in terms of his rim protection and really being an anchor for our defense. It’s an area we’ve struggled with...” Redick said. “He’s been an excellent rebounder throughout his career, both offensively and defensively. And then he’s very capable, both playing in the pocket and playing at the rim with lobs, and we know both our guys love throwing lobs.”
Redick also talked about how this would change the Lakers defensive scheme, with the plan being to largely keep Kessler back by the rim — he compared it to how the Spurs use Victor Wembanyama — and that means less switching on the perimeter.
3) The Lakers wanted to build out a roster of “dribble/pass/shoot players that were younger and add depth to our roster.” Put more bluntly, the Lakers wanted guys closer to Luka Doncic’s timeline.
The Lakers added Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Ziaire Williams, and some older veterans in Kevon Looney and Matizse Thybulle. The Lakers have a lot of players on the wing now, but real questions remain about who from that group is going to step up as two-way players and earn minutes. What the rotation is going to look like. Redick had the jokes about that.
“I’m pretty confident in three of the [starting] spots,” Redick said of the Lakers starters, referring to Doncic, Reaves and Kessler. “The other two spots will not be two white guys.”
Doncic was a “partner” and a “co-creator” in the Lakers’ offseason moves, Pelina said.
“Luka is the world’s greatest offensive player, and for us to be able to have an opportunity as a franchise to have that player in our building every night as a 26-year-old is special, and it requires us to do special things to build a team around him,” Pelinka said.
As should be expected at the start of training camp (it officially starts next week), the Lakers leadership was optimistic and confident. They like the offseason moves they made and expressed confidence in them.
The real test will come later, when that roster has to take the court in a West where there will be few cupcakes on the schedule.
