In 2015, Steve Kerr had a lot in common with JJ Redick today. Although he had front office experience with the Phoenix Suns, most of his post-playing career was spent in the broadcast booth. That didn’t stop him from becoming the top coaching candidate this cycle, and he was ultimately offered two jobs despite having no experience as a head or assistant coach at any level. One belonged to the Golden State Warriors. The other belonged to the New York Knicks. We obviously know how well it worked out for Kerr in the Bay Area. Derek Fisher, another inexperienced coach, took the Knicks job and stayed less than two years.
Is Kerr a better coach than Fisher? Probably. But if Kerr had taken the Knicks job, it’s safe to say he wouldn’t be on a Hall of Fame coaching trajectory either. No matter how much emphasis we place on coaching hires, they ultimately don’t matter if the team in question fails to put together a good roster. Redick’s success in Los Angeles will primarily depend on the group of players that Rob Pelinka and his front office manage to provide.
So what kind of offseason do the Lakers have in store? Well, Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Jovan Buha of The Athletic have given some insight into their plans, albeit somewhat indirectly. In their article about Redick’s hiring, they released the following information:
- The development of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Max Christie is a priority. This was also reported in several media outlets during the team’s pursuit of Dan Hurley.
- Redick plans to involve Anthony Davis more in the offense, especially late in games.
- Alleviating the ball-handling duties that LeBron James is currently responsible for, assuming he stays, is a major goal. The Lakers want to keep him fresh heading into the playoffs.
OK, so what can we take away from all of this? It’s hard to say for sure, but we can start with a rumor generated by a player himself. Shortly after Redick was hired, Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young tweeted an hourglass. Young’s fit makes sense based on several of these criteria. At the very least, he would make life easier for James in the regular season. He would also go a long way in maximizing Davis offensively given his passing, especially on lobs.
Is a youth exchange feasible without including these three main young actors? Potentially. That would depend on Young’s trade value around the league. The Lakers have three first-round picks and three trades to hold up. They could match the money if D’Angelo Russell opts out of the final year of his contract by combining him with Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jalen Hood-Schifino. This would limit them to the second apron because they would accumulate salaries, but it is doable. Such a move, if Atlanta is favorable, would allow the Lakers to keep Reaves, Hachimura and Christie in place.
Of course, Atlanta’s other point guard, Dejounte Murray, was a Lakers target at the deadline and his cap cost was much more manageable at $25.4 million. It’s a deal the Lakers could potentially match with Russell and Vincent alone, although the recruiting capital involved would have to be greater than otherwise anticipated in order to account for the absence of the Lakers’ top youngsters in the deal.
Neither scenario is necessarily ideal for the Lakers. The Hawks would likely push for Reaves or Hachimura in a potential Young deal. It is also a defensive handicap. Murray isn’t a great 3-point shooter, and he’s not known for creating the kind of passes that net Davis easy points (especially on lobs) the way Young does.
It looks like the point guard will be the priority here. The report doesn’t make it clear that offense will trump defense in the discussions, but that certainly appears to be the case. It would take a substantial upgrade at point guard to truly lighten LeBron’s workload. The types of players who could actually do that while playing solid defense are probably just out of Pelinka’s price range.
Figuring out what exactly is on the table here will determine how far the Lakers can go. Are they really willing to trade away all three first-round picks to give Redick an immediate winner? The Athletic’s report stated that “Los Angeles is convinced he can be their version of Erik Spoelstra or Steve Kerr – a culture builder who can grow with the franchise for more than a decade.” This doesn’t specifically take a stance on the issue, but it does suggest that the Lakers are thinking longer term. If they are committed to keeping young players in place, it could mean the Lakers want to grow without ever rebuilding. A trade involving one or two picks rather than all three seems more likely.
This is not the end of the world. James and Davis provide such a starting point that selecting viable actors instead of chasing stars could very easily prove more beneficial in the long run. They didn’t have a third star during the 2020 championship, for example. Malcolm Brogdon could probably be had for a lot less than Murray, and while he’s not a heavily used ball handler, he can at least run trains offensively. Collin Sexton would also have been a target for the Lakers, and he presents real two-way promise under the right circumstances.
The market for wings is generally less favorable. This would be especially true if the Lakers were to use one of their wings to match their salary on something bigger. Ball handling tends to be a relatively available and cheap commodity. The Lakers know this, having spent real assets on Dennis Schroder, Russell Westbrook and Russell in recent years. Wings are much harder to find. Most championship teams develop their own. The Lakers seem willing to bet on Redick’s developmental direction.
We are still in the early and more uncertain stages. James isn’t even a lock to return. He has a player option that he can exercise at any time. That’s not the case, and until his future is assured, the Lakers need to be flexible about what life after him might entail. Redick’s hiring appears to have been done in part with that in mind, but there’s no easy way to project their roster at this point. We know the broad outline of how Redick wants to build, but we’re still lacking the details of how he plans to do it.