There are risks as the experiment begins to unfold, but it’s going to be interesting.
Duke legend JJ Redick is now the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and while it is still one of the most glamorous franchises in the NBA, the Lakers are not what they used to be.
L.A. has LeBron James and Anthony Davis and picked up Dalton Knecht in this summer’s draft and of course Brotherhood member Cam Reddish is on the roster, but they still need an awful lot.
Redick says he’d like to add a center to help Davis, who has been injury prone, and that might give him some help later in the season and in the playoffs.
Knecht should certainly help with offense and spacing. He was terrific at Tennessee and his range could really help James and Davis.
The other thing he has to do is to deal with the Bronny James situation.
So far, LeBron Jr. looks like he’s completely overhwelmed at this level and no one is going to argue that he would have been drafted if he wasn’t his father’s son.
Redick deals with this diplomatically, saying that James is a “development player,” and that the way for him to carve out a role is on defense. He compares him to Lu Dort.
Dort was undrafted after playing for one year for Bobby Hurley at Arizona State and has turned into an outstanding defender with Oklahoma City. You may remember that Dort gave Luka Doncic fits in the playoffs this year. He’s been in the NBA since 2019 and has carved out an impressive role. He’s on the Canadian Olympic team too, by the way.
It’s not clear that Bronny can do that, but it’s a good basic strategy.
Whatever happens, barring some major trades, L.A. won’t get much help for Redick in next summer’s draft: the Lakers won’t pick until #47. Their first-round pick was traded to New Orleans to acquire Davis.