JJ Redick and his coaching staff have the entire NBA totally befuddled as the Los Angeles Lakers have now officially been the #1 ranked NBA defense for over 2 months, despite having traded Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic.
The pundits are throwing up their hands in frustration, unable to explain how rookie head coach JJ Redick has transformed the Lakers with Luka into a better defensive team than the same Lakers with Anthony Davis. Yet that’s exactly what the eye test and the advanced analytics are telling us. Somehow, someway, JJ Redick has the Lakers with Luka playing the best defense in the NBA, despite replacing Anthony Davis with Jaxson Hayes.
The expectation after the Lakers rescinded the Mark Williams trade was that their failure to replace Anthony Davis at starting center would likely be a fatal blow for any realistic Lakers’ championship hopes for this season.
But the Lakers’ defensive transformation had already begun. The Lakers had traded for Finney-Smith, gotten Vanderbilt and Vincent back from injury, and added 2-way defenders Goodwin and Jemison to the rotation.
While the doubters and non-believers continued to claim the Lakers defense was mostly luck driven smoke-and-mirrors that would be exposed in the playoffs, the Lakers’ simply continued to shut down more teams.
Since earning the #1 defensive rating in early January, the Lakers have gone 20–6 and now are in sole possession of the #2 seed in the West, which guarantees L.A. home court advantage right up to the conference finals.
So let’s take a deep dive into how rookie head coach JJ Redick and his coaching staff were able to transform the Lakers with Luka Doncic not only into the #1 defense in the NBA but into a better defense than with AD.
Redick’s New Trapping/Rotating/Swarming Team Defense
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While Pelinka was busy closing the Luka trade, JJ Redick was rebuilding the Lakers’ half-court defense with a goal of being proactive rather than reactive and countering teams who switch hunt their weaker defenders.
The new defensive strategy Redick and his veteran coaching staff designed for the Lakers was a reversal from the passive drop coverage, switch everything 1–4 defense that the Lakers had started the season running.
Rather then depend on individual defensive skills, Reddick opted for a team-driven defensive system that could take better advantage of his team’s elite size and length, speed and quickness, basketball savvy and smarts.
Now, when teams try to isolate their best scorers against our weakest defenders, the Lakers attack and hedge, ice, trap, and double the shooters and force them to rotate against heavy pressure and swarms of defenders.
This is where the Lakers’ defensive size and length, speed and quickness, and smarts and savvy as a team comes into play, forcing opposing ball handlers into chaotic rotations that lead to turnovers and fast break points.
Ironically, the Lakers had already been in the process of transforming their offense to better complement their desire to push the pace in transition before they even started discussions with the Mavs about Luke Doncic.
JJ Redick knew that the Lakers needed to find a way to protect Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic from being relentlessly switch hunted defensively if they were going to be able to be part of an NBA championship backcourt.
So far, the Lakers new half-court defensive strategy has been a major success. It’s given the Lakers a clear blueprint for shutting down other teams’ stars while also protecting their stars from switch hunting.
Lakers Add 6-Pack Of New Defenders to 10-Man Rotation
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Playing an aggressive trapping, rotating, and swarming team defense rather than the usual drop coverage NBA style of defense is a better fit for the Lakers’ current roster and the fast-paced offense they want to run.
Rather than loading up with traditional big-bodied space-eating centers, the Lakers opted to focus on building a roster deep in big, long, fast, quick, smart, athletic, and physical guards and wings who consistently play hard.
The Finney-Smith trade, Vanderbilt and Vincent injury return, Goodwin and Jemison signings, and James re-invention as a 3&D wing have given L.A. a six-pack of defensive guards and wings to run their new defense.
Besides upgrading the Lakers’ defense with 5 new plus defenders and re-purposing James, Redick also is getting better defensive effort from current players like Hayes, Hachimura, Reaves, Knecht, and new addition Doncic.
The Los Angeles Lakers have played 15 games since the Anthony Davis injury and trade. They have won 13 of those games with 118.9 offensive rating (#6), a 107.0 defensive rating (#1), and a +11.9 net rating (#3).
Jaxson Hayes especially exceeded the Lakers’ expectations. In 18 games started, Jax averaged 7.9 points, 6.1 boards, 1.3 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 0.7 steals in 23.7 minutes per game with the 11th best center defensive rating.
During that 15 game stretch, Hayes proved he’s a legitimate NBA starting center, posting an impressive 116.2 offensive rating (#12), elite 102.1 defensive rating (#1 among all centers), and great +14.1 net rating (#5).
The DFS trade, Vando/Vincent return, Jemison/Goodwin signings, James re-invention as elite defensive wing, and better defense from Jax, Luka, and the rest of the roster has transformed the Lakers into a defense-first team.
LeBron James Replaces AD as Lakers’ Director of Defense
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What makes the Luka trade uniquely special for the Lakers is LeBron James’ confidence in Luka Doncic running the team’s offense frees him up to replace Anthony Davis as the team’s top defender and defensive anchor.
With Luka taking over as the team’s starting point guard, LeBron and the Lakers have the rare luxury of being able to repurpose his great talents to playing off the ball on offense and and directing the team’s new defense.
James has essentially reinvented himself on offense as a lethal off-the-ball threat as a cutter and 3-point shooter and on defense as an elite big wing defender with the basketball smarts and skills to make L.A.’s defense hum.
Besides giving the Lakers a desperately needed All-NBA quality lock-down wing defender to help make their defense work, LeBron has also taken over Anthony Davis’ role as the team’s defensive anchor and Director of Defense.
While Davis was the rim protector on defense who had every player’s back, James has become the anchor of the defense, the captain who makes the defensive play calls and ensures everybody is making the right rotations.
The first true test of the Los Angeles Lakers new trapping, rotating, and swarming defense has been the 15 games since AD’s injury and trade, where the team went 13–2 and posted an NBA best 107.0 defensive rating.
Besides replacing AD as the defensive captain, LeBron completely reversed his own performance on defense, lowering his personal defensive rating to an elite 104.5 for the 15-game stretch versus a poor 115.4 before then.
In the end, LeBron James taking over for Anthony Davis as Director of Defense is the one of the major reasons why the Lakers with Luka are now a far better defensive team than the Lakers with Anthony Davis were.
Will Lakers New Defense Be Sustainable In Playoffs?
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The Lakers new trapping, rotating, and swarming team attack defense is specifically designed for the playoffs, when the games slow down, defenses go switch hunting, and matchups determine who wins games and series.
The last thing JJ Redick is going to allow is for teams to relentlessly switch hunt Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic on offense to exploit their defensive weakness, score easy baskets, and hopefully adversely affect their offense.
That’s a big reason why the Lakers’ new defense is going to hedge, ice, trap, and double any opposing ball handler who tries to switch hunt any of their weaker defenders. They’re not going to leave their defenders on an island.
Strategically, the Lakers want a defense that both protect their weaker defenders from being hunted and create chaos, turnovers, and transition basketball, where the Luka and LeBron offensive juggernaut can shine.
What the NBA is seeing from the Lakers since the AD injury and trade is a defensive transformation that has opposing coaches bamboozled because the Lakers with Luka are clearly better than the Lakers with AD were.
Realistically, it’s getting harder and harder for the doubters and naysayers to deny that the Lakers have somehow become one of the league’s top defensive teams despite having traded Anthony Davis for Luke Doncic.
What’s now starting to happen is teams are starting to copy the Lakers defensive strategies and tactics. Every team that’s played the Nuggets since the Lakers dominated them is has copied how L.A. defended Jokic.
The playoffs come down to execution. Look for the Lakers’ new trapping, rotating, and swarming defensive strategy, new six-pack of elite defenders, and new Director of Defense in LeBron to be dominant in the playoffs.
You know I’m loving the new scheme, mainly because I think the myth of “Switch Everything and Win!” is a false one. I appreciate the focus and intent with which the Lakers are playing on D and that Reddick didn’t leave at “well, it’s what we worked on in camp so leave it until next season”.
Still, having said all that, it’s early in the process and only a few teams (Clippers, Hornets, Warriors, Wizards and Knicks) have seen it more than once. It is a great mid-season adjustment, no doubt, but it’s lasting impact has yet to be truly tested.
Still, there are many reasons to be optimistic that (with this roster) we can use this as basic blueprint going forward.
There inevitably will be adjustments and adjustments to the adjustments but the thing I love most about the new defense is that it is proactive.
One problem with switching is that it creates a passive reactive environment. I’ve always favored systems that made player be aggressive, both on offense and defense.
The interesting wrinkle that also helps the teams ability to rotate and swarm is their willing to give up threes to certain shooters and long twos to almost everyone. It’s a strategy built on hard work and trust in analytics.
Unspoken is how we suddenly have the players to execute our trapping, rotating, and swarming defense, which are guards and wings that are tall, long, fast, quick, smart, physical, and athletic.
Lakers really have an opportunity to build another dynasty imo.