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Redick’s vision for James, Davis and other Lakers can solve LA’s biggest problems

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The Lakers hope that swapping coaches is enough to change their fortunes from last season, where they finished with the eighth-best record in the West and lost in the first round.

JJ Redick is taking over mostly the same roster as his predecessor, Darvin Ham, but plans to change a few things.

Redick gave some insights into how the Lakers can play better in an offseason appearance on ESPN’s “The Lowe Post,” sharing how he wants to use LeBron James and shift points of emphasis heading into the 2024-25 season.

Here’s what we learned about Redick’s plan, and how it may be a difference-maker for the team.

What JJ Redick’s vision means for the Lakers

JJ Redick’s starting lineup makes more sense than Darvin Ham’s

The Lakers tried 19 different starting lineups last season, wasting time at the beginning of the year by starting Taurean Prince before finally settling back into the D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimua, LeBron James and Anthony Davis group that led them to the Western Conference Finals in 2023.

That lineup went 22-10 after Hachimura was inserted into the starting lineup on Feb. 3. That is equivalent to a 56-win pace, just one behind the No. 1-seeded Thunder and nine more than the 47 that Los Angeles actually finished with.

Redick cited that closing record to Zach Lowe, noting that the Lakers are going to play that starting lineup right off the bat in Game 1. That change alone should immediately have Los Angeles improving its seeding from last year.

JJ Redick wants to use LeBron James more as a screener

James is deadly with the ball in his hands, but Redick doesn’t necessarily want him starting with it. Instead, Redick hopes to utilize James away from the ball through screening actions.

“It’s funny because I think when people hear that in regards to LeBron playing off the ball, it doesn’t mean he’s not gonna have the ball,” Redick explained to Lowe. “LeBron is one of the smartest players, and I think using him as a screener and finding ways to get him the ball in specific spots on the floor where he can be a facilitator and scorer, that’s what I mean by being off the ball.”

One of those specific spots that James will be utilized is at the elbow. James has said before that when he catches the ball at the elbow, “it’s not for me to score — I see everything.”

James has been a terrific passer from that elbow area in previous years. It gives him the angles to throw a pass anywhere on the floor.

Getting James the ball at the elbows could also lead to more split cuts, which Redick has said is one of his favorite actions. That could lead to the Lakers playing a more motion-heavy Warriors style of offense, with cutters diving to the basket and shooters popping open for more 3s while James and Davis facilitate from the high post.

JJ Redick is going to create more analytically sound advantages

The Lakers had an average offense last season. They ranked No. 15 in offensive rating, 29th in offensive rebounding and 28th in 3-point attempts. Expect all of those to climb under Redick.

“There will be a decent amount of movement,” Redick told Lowe. “The shot profile will hopefully improve. We’ve talked about ways to get more paint touches. We’ve talked about ways to shoot more 3s. We’ve talked about some of the leeway you have to give certain players with midrange shots, whether that’s in the post or isolation.”

Redick does have an additional 3-point threat in rookie Dalton Knecht, who he called “in the one percent of shooters” and would “have a chance to earn a spot in the rotation.”

Aside from playing Knecht, it sounds like Redick plans to replace many of those midrange looks with 3s. Playing Hachimura more, who hit 42.2 percent of his 3s last season, should help significantly.

The Lakers will also focus more on offensive rebounding. “We’re really gonna emphasize offensive rebounding and corner crashes,” Redick noted.

The corner crash is a philosophy wherein shooters from the corners dive to the basket to pursue offensive rebounds. Hachimura should be the main beneficiary of that strategy change — he was a decent offensive rebounder with the Wizards and has good athleticism to grab contested boards. He saw his numbers fall under Ham, but he should see them tick back up with more freedom to corner crash.

Redick noted that these strategies would look a lot different from last year’s team.

“I’m not comparing that to a previous coach or system, but those are some of the things that will look like a team that I coach,” he told Lowe.

Those changes make a lot of sense. The Lakers have talent, and getting them to play a more modern style of basketball should usher in more wins this season.

The Realest: D’Angelo Russell And The Los Angeles Lakers

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Since rejoining the Los Angeles Lakers at the 2023 trade deadline, Russell has been a galvanizing force by being a stabilizing one. Whereas the Lakers were a tinderbox of bad play and worse feelings with Russell Westbrook running point, Russell allowed them to be a normal basketball team that plays good basketball.

Over the last two years, the Lakers have won 62 percent of their 93 games with Russell and just 42 percent of their 62 without him. During that same time frame, the Lakers have outscored opponents by 4.62 points per 100 possessions with Russell on the court, but been outscored by 1.82 points per 100 possessions without him. At the risk of oversimplifying things, Russell’s impact represents the difference between the Lakers being the Knicks and being the Bulls.

On the court, Russell is a study in control, both of the ball and of himself. Even if his 18.0 points and 6.3 assists per game seem somewhat pedestrian, he’s one of the most skilled guards in the league; the ball goes where he wants it to go. More and more, people (people, meaning Russell himself) are saying that he’s an elite shooter whose versatility and marksmanship are rivaled only by Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard. Last season, Russell was one of just five players to score more than 400 points on both catch-and-shoot and pull-up jumpers.

Beyond his perimeter shooting, Russell excels in all the areas where point guards are expected to excel. As a pick-and-roll ball-handler, he scored 5.6 points per game, the most on the team; his 3:1 assist to turnover ratio was also the best on the team. With the ball in his hands, Russell rejects the typical vocabulary of basketball. He doesn’t slash or glide; he oozes. He finagles. In the pick and roll, he lazes a trail around screens, maneuvering into the heart of unaware defenses; he finds space to launch a jumper like a cat settling down in a sunbeam.

Still, Russell has been a disaster in the playoffs. In the first round last year, Russell averaged just 14.2 points per game on 48.1 percent True Shooting, which somehow represented an upgrade from the 13.3 points (on 51.6 percent True Shooting) that he averaged in the 2023 playoffs. Facing the very best defenders, Russell is too slow and too slender to pose too many problems. Even during the regular season, Russell doesn’t so much create shots as find them, plucking the low-hanging fruit that permissive mid-January defenses leave for him. Against postseason defenses, though, he can’t muster the required dynamism—his open shots become contested ones, his contested ones are completely snuffed out.

More, Russell loses his purpose in the playoffs. During the regular season, Russell serves a necessary function as James’s spotter; James is too old to marshall every possession, so Russell’s ability to keep the offense afloat across 82 games is very valuable. In the playoffs, Russell is shunted to the periphery as James reasserts his primacy. When James and Anthony Davis are at the center of every play, Russell is unnecessary.

For whatever reason, Russell hasn’t yet figured out how to complement James. Theoretically, they should be an easy fit—both can capably pass, dribble and shoot; they threaten defenses in different ways and occupy different spaces on the court. It’s easy to imagine them bouncing off each other like a Pacific coast version of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, pushing defenses to their breaking point with their collective smarts and skill.

In this sense, Russell is an avatar for the complications of building around late-stage James: the players James needs to make the playoffs aren’t necessarily the same ones who can help him win once he gets there. Across the season, it’s probably smart to find ways to preserve James by taking the ball out of his hands when possible. In a single game, you should probably give the ball to James and get out of his way.

As such, Russell has a difficult job because he has two different identities, depending on the day. He’s James’ partner and his lackey; he’s the midpoint between frontman and footman. Co-star or bit part? For the Lakers to not squander LeBron’s final years, Russell has to be comfortable as both.