The Los Angeles Lakers’ most significant change this offseason was replacing head coach Darvin Ham with JJ Redick, who has never coached before at any level.
While that certainly is a bit of a gamble, especially for a team with win-now aspirations, Redick seems fit for the job and is bringing a lot of outside-the-box ideas to the table.
One of them is an added focus on player development. Given the parameters of the NBA CBA and the Lakers’ lack of resources, they will need to draft and develop players if they want to sustain any sort of success in this league.
With that being the case, a big focus for the Lakers this year will be developing young players such as Max Christie, Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis.
In order to do that, there will need to be an added focus on working hard during the summer, which they appear to be doing. According to Dan Woike of the L.A. Times, under Redick, the Lakers have been featuring more live basketball during their offseason workouts:
Those workouts are the first in the formalized relationship between JJ Redick, his staff and the players, and the first impression might offer some hints as to how the new coach will operate.
Workouts have featured more live basketball — one on one and three on three — than past summers when the focus was more on individual, noncompetitive work.
This could be one step of the player development changes that Redick vowed to make when he took the job this summer, a change the organization has tied to the changing salary cap rules. But, honestly, the changes probably were overdue.
With a team full of veterans, the Lakers won’t always be able to practice hard so it is good to see that they are taking advantage of their time on the court during the offseason.
It’s no secret that Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis are coming off a gold medal run with Team USA during the 2024 Olympics, which means they could be limited to start the regular season. If that’s the case then others will need to step up if the Lakers want to avoid getting off to another slow start, as they have the past few seasons.
Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis earning ‘positive reviews’ during Lakers workouts
During these workouts that JJ Redick is leading, reports have indicated that both Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis are earning positive reviews.
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