After two disappointing endings during the NBA Playoffs at the hands of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers elected to make a head coaching change that took the basketball community by storm. The firing of Darvin Ham came as no surprise as there was a clear disconnect between him the fans, players, and front-office. When is was announced that NBA veteran turned ESPN analyst JJ Reddick would be taking up the mantle as Lakers’ head coach, fans and media alike took to social media to react to such a polarizing decision.
Despite this being his first time in a head coaching position at any level, the Lakers’ front office is confident in their decision to take a chance on Redick. In an interview with the Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times, general manager Rob Pelinka commented on their decision to go a different route and plunge on Redick in the offseason.
“It was just really important to us as we made this hire to find a head coach that could sit across the table from some of the smartest and best players in the world,” Pelinka said. “This is the stage for those players to be able to relate to, coach, hold them accountable, lead them, inspire them. And we felt like JJ was very unique in holding all those qualities to do that.”
A season ago the Lakers’ were very dependent offensively on the creation that LeBron James could provide for them. This led to a number of games where the 39-year-old superstar had to play an extended number of minutes which was expected to be under heavy monitoring as the Lakers headed into the postseason. James averaged 35.5 minutes per game during the 2023-24 NBA season, which felt like a necessity as the team’s plus-minus would plummet when he wasn’t on the floor.
With the start of the 2024-25 season around the corner it will be hard to imagine Redick having the same gameplan as Ham when it comes to James’ minutes per game. For fantasy owners this should be a great season to consider adding some of the Lakers’ role players to their rosters. There is no doubt that Redick will find a way to create consistent offense while James’ is off the floor. Expect players like D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and Max Christie to be given extended roles this season as this team attempts to optimize the next two years they have with James under contract.
