A few days ago, the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly decided on Darvin Ham’s successor. Although the storied franchise tried to bring in UConn’s Dan Hurley, the team couldn’t convince him to come to Los Angeles to take on arguably one of the most challenging coaching jobs in professional sports.
Ultimately, the Lakers went with the candidate that has been the frontrunner all along, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that JJ Redick has been hired, with the former player turned analyst turned head coach inking a four-year deal with Los Angeles.
Even though this news was reported on Thursday, the team has yet to officially announce Redick’s hiring and when he’ll have his introductory press conference.
However, it appears that hasn’t wasted any time in reaching out to his players, with guard Austin Reaves saying that Redick texted him recently urging the up-and-comer to get on a call, as he told Cierra Clark of THV11:
“I’ve gotten to know JJ a little bit, going on his podcast during the middle of the year,” Reaves said. “He’s a basketball genius, as I think everybody knows and I think he’s going to make a good coach. He actually texted me yesterday and wanted to get on a call. So, like I said, I just can’t wait to put our brains together and go have a good year.”
I asked Lakers star and Arkansas native Austin Reaves about the hiring of new Lakers coach JJ Reddick. Reaves says Reddick is a basketball genius and he can't wait to work with him. #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/NP60LHPkeQ
— Cierra Clark (@CierraClarkTV) June 22, 2024
With Redick reaching out to Reaves, the first-time head coach clearly views him as an important piece to the puzzle in Los Angeles, which is a good sign for the 26-year-old. Reaves didn’t seem all that fond of the way Ham used him last season, as he was benched early on in the season and had to earn his way back into the starting lineup.
It’ll be interesting to see how Redick plans to use Reaves in his first season with the team, as he’s currently one of the most talented players on the roster and a teammate superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis love playing alongside.
RUMOR: Lakers Could Revisit Trade Talks for Dejounte Murray
With Redick now in place as the new head coach of the Lakers, the team’s brass has the tall task of trying to retool the roster in hopes of being able to be a competitive squad on the floor to start the 2024-25 NBA season.
One move the Lakers brass could make this summer is reigniting trade talks with the Atlanta Hawks to bring in one-time All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, which is something that Shams Charania of The Athletic foresees happening.
