The Los Angeles Lakers were once again a play-in team in 2023-24, and their playoff run lasted five games. Given that it was LeBron James’ 21st season, one might assume that the team would have responded by creating a major and now beneficial industry, or perhaps a line of smaller, but important companies. This is not what has happened.
Heading into the final 22, James and his co-star Anthony Davis have returned to a roster that looks largely similar to the one at the end of the season. The Lakers imagine they were given a loan in Dalton Knecht, the Deny. 17 selected in the draft, and they have made history by choosing James’ son, Bronny, with the Deny. 55 select. However, when it comes to this season’s on-court product, converting the coaches may have been the longest path they took. A year after Los Angeles reached the conference finals, the team fired Darvin Ham. He will soon be replaced with JJ Redick, who, in this role, will no longer co-host podcasts with James.
Redick has been very clear about how he needs the Lakers to play, particularly on offense. He needs more ball movement, a sleeker shooting profile (i.e. more three-pointers), and more glass shots from the corners. He needs to give importance to Davis as a transfer center more often, and he needs to give importance to James as an evaluator more often. This all sounds great, but if the worker pool doesn’t trade, there’s only so much room to grow here.
The circumstance of playing games.
12 month closing: The Lakers were the first team to hoist the NBA Cup, then immediately lost 10 of 13 games, prompting James to say, “We just suck right now.” They were 17-19 at the time, but they didn’t continue to be bad all season: They got tough in February and went 47-35 (Negative 15 on offense, Negative 17 on defense), winning. a play-in game at Brandnew Orleans and come away with a gentlemen’s sweep in the first round. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant season, between all the drama over Ham’s lineup picks and rumors about the safety of his project and potential trades.
The low season: The Lakers flirted with UConn schoolteacher Dan Hurley, but on draft night, Redick was drafting ATOs for Knecht. James reportedly offered to sacrifice cash on a separate venture if it would help the Lakers make a significant addition to the roster, but that ultimately didn’t mean much: He ended up signing a two-year, $101.4 million deal. Max made deals with a player prospect in the second season, and the initial job did not achieve any of his goals. The broader information was that James was his son’s teammate and later won a gold medal alongside Davis in Paris. The Lakers quietly re-signed Max Christie to a four-year, $32 million deal and let Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie travel in separate company.
Best case scenario for 2024-25: James and Davis return to play over 70 games each, proving the Lakers have the most, with Redick earning Past Master honors for presiding over their first top-10 offense of the LeBron era ; Due to a mid-season issue, they entered the playoffs with a true Big 3 and more than a beater’s expectation of earning a call-up.
Worst case 2024-25: Davis starts taking more threes, though he rarely makes them, a microcosm of the best thing about the Lakers: none of the lineups that can reliably make stops can land on the ground in any way; Since they don’t have the same surprising success they had in 2023-24, they missed out on late play-in in the regular season, and were ultimately eliminated from contention in Game 81 by the Rockets. a team whose dazzling age offers a stark contrast to the increasingly grim Los Angeles.
The dialogue
Lakers Believer: I’m in such a position for the Redick era. Most of the time, I’d like to see a schoolteacher with 0 skills make comparisons to Pat Riley, but not in this case. This guy has seriousness. He will immediately gain recognition from his players, who have been watching him for years, first as one of the best shooters in NBA history and then as one of the best broadcasters in the industry. More than all that, it’s very mischievous about where the game is and where it’s going. Yo love that the Lakers hired the guy who, during their previous coaching search, said on national television that he wouldn’t be a good project until they started building a new team. The Lakers finished dead on 3-point attempts in a possession-based final season, and there’s a total denial method happening with Redick working the screen. The only thing I don’t like about this is that it’s outside the sport of podcasting. “Mind The Game” taught me a lot!
Lakers Skeptic: It is telling that you are simply making an appointment with the school teacher. You’re meant to be Mr. Yes, so you won’t start with the humble fact that the top job failed to address the flaws on the roster. Taking a look, aside from the ridiculous Riley comparisons, I don’t know how great of a schoolteacher Redick will be. You neither! It’s entirely possible that he’s the best man to save the LeBron era and whatever comes next, and it’s also entirely possible that he won’t even finish as long as Darvin Ham did. However, if you want your favorite former podcaster to be judged generously, I recommend lowering the bar as much as possible. AD played in 76 games at the end of the year and made the All-NBA Second Team. LeBron played in ’71 and made the third team. Despite those great blessings, the Lakers have been a below average crew. They even had a slightly favorable level differential. Redick can’t be expected to make chicken salad with this.
Lakers Believer: Why do you talk about the Lakers as if they deny the ability on the roster? Have you ever forgotten that they made it to the convention finals two years ago? Have you ever forgotten that they were 18-6 when they started LeBron and AD after Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura at the end of the season? Redick wouldn’t have taken charge of a team consisting of 2 stars and a large number of doctors! You took charge of an excellent and attractive team that you can train better by discovering small advantages. If they solve the math problem (i.e. try to make 3) and win the property game more often, they will take a step forward.
Lakers Skeptic: I didn’t say the Lakers had deny ability. I said they were a below average team and I overcame that. If you flat out refuse this overview, you’ll be overlooking a couple of glaring flaws later on. Beyond the visible spacing factor, their protection at the point of attack is a condition, they only have one rim protector and are completely missing 3 and D guys. If any team needed a real shake-up in the summer, it was this one. I assumed the Lakers would prefer Russell, but they usually didn’t. I figured they might hire at least two of the Hachimura-Gabe Vincent-Jarred Vanderbilt trio, but they didn’t. I might have even understood it if they had made Austin Reaves available if they were being honest again. However, I don’t perceive doing nothing. (That 18-6 record, by the way, is a dozen more remarkable if you don’t know that they had a dozen of those wins against truly catastrophic teams. Congratulations on beating the Wizards in overtime!)
Lakers Believer: In a normal offseason, I would be quite surprised if the Lakers didn’t make more changes, but this was a far cry from a normal offseason. The pristine collective bargaining agreement has made trades much more complicated, and the Lakers have been far from the only team to feel the consequences. They tried everything they could to get Klay Thompson, but it didn’t work out. Are you crazy because they didn’t overpay for Zach LaVine or something? In no way should you form a path simply for the sake of forming a path. Let’s just see what Redick can do with this roster; The gateway to work will surely revisit the business market next.
Lakers Skeptic: Honestly, I’m not sure I’d be interested in paying LaVine $49 million in 2026-27, but in this particular case, trading for him doesn’t have to be the worst idea in the world. It is a crime to basketball that the Lakers have failed time and time again to put together an excellent offense since LeBron arrived. (For reference, here’s where their offense has ranked each year, setting up with 2018-19: 24, 11, 24, 22, 19, 15.) Your wait and see advice sounds good. Seems smart, but I’m guessing the 2025 trade deadline would be the same as those looming, leaving the Lakers wondering, “Should we give up these valuable first-round draft picks in a trade?” Will that make us better, but not good enough to win the title?” In fact, it’s a difficult position to be in, especially since LeBron will be 40 years old by this deadline. He should be playing in games of that theme, not being part of some strange and strange spectacle.
Lakers Believer: I don’t like the way you put this best. For me, just having LeBron and AD you are no longer that At some distance, the 2020 team that was named confirmed what they could do with a pair of high-end position players. And with that word, it’s conceivable that the answers to the Lakers’ problems already lie internally. Sure, the roster matches last year’s, but Vincent only played 11 games in 2023-24 and Vanderbilt only played 29. Cam Reddish and Christian Log also ignored a ton of presence, and if Max Christie and/or Jalen Hood-Schifino makes the jump to “reliable rotation player” and Dalton Knecht is as good a position as they come – you noticed set the Suns on fire in the preseasonTRUE? The second drive may look extremely different. This team is expected to be much deeper than you imagine.
Lakers Skeptic: It’s interesting that you left out the other young man. Just curious: thoughts on Bronny?
Lakers Believer: I was waiting for you to bring it! Focus, I don’t want to give him a different power, but I think he can transform some of the best Deny. 55 selections from all those present… in short. Redick believes Bronny will also be an elite defender at the attacking level. I really like his shooting style and I love his basketball IQ. However, it’s a medium to long-term construction project, so there’s nothing wrong with him spending most of this actual season in the G League. I hope the family goes without saying that he is meant to be a sophomore in school before they try to tear him apart. I’m sick.
Lakers Skeptic: Meant to be in school, huh? It’s practically as if, in a normal situation, a player of his caliber would not have been drafted at all! Anyway, I’m satisfied we’re headed to Bronny. I hope you’ll be watching when he makes his debut alongside his father. It will be a different era and there is a high expectation that it will be the most relevant the Lakers will be all season.
