4 Increasingly fascinating Lakers storylines heading into 2024-25

On the surface, the 2024-25 season will be no different from any other for the Los Angeles Lakers. All eyes will be squarely on the purple and gold, and the presence of superstar talent will further establish the long-running expectation and mentality of championship or bust.

The 2024-25 season marks the beginning of a new era, however, and there are no shortage of storylines that will drive the narratives and debates that are destined to emerge.

Outside of the addition of rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, Los Angeles will be bringing back an almost identical roster from 2023-24. It's a decision that's garnered criticism and praise, depending on the circle you travel in, as well as genuine intrigue based on the extenuating circumstances.

After a 2023-24 season that was defined by questionable rotations, injuries, and spats between players and coaches, Los Angeles is giving its roster a chance to start anew.

It's a compelling storyline on its own, but there are layers to the discussion that must be peeled back. Some of those developments will reveal the truth about how talented the roster really is, while others will place controversial decisions under the spotlight.

As the Lakers enter a 2024-25 season that's perhaps more complex than the surface level suggests, the period of introspection has officially begun with three fascinating storylines to monitor.

4. Is the Lakers' starting lineup truly elite?

One of the most confusing decisions made by Darvin Ham in 2023-24 was creating every starting lineup imaginable but the one that included the team's five best players. On February 3, after 50 games, Ham finally changed course by starting Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and D'Angelo Russell.

From that point forward, the Lakers played at a genuinely elite level—and new head coach JJ Redick plans to explore how legitimate their greatness is.

Redick named those exact five players as his starting lineup for the 2024-25 season. It's easy to see why, as Los Angeles went 22-10 from February 3 until the end of the season—producing a top-five winning percentage during that time.

In addition to winning at the level of a top-five team, Los Angeles scored at virtual will, ranking No. 3 in the NBA in offensive rating during that same period of time.

In 2024-25, Redick will be testing the sustainability of that starting lineup. The hope appears to be that the Lakers can finally embrace the potential of a group that's played at an elite regular season level and reached the 2023 Western Conference Finals.

Figuring out if the Lakers actually have an elite starting lineup will be the first major step toward deciding how to approach the trade deadline and the structure of the rotation beyond them.

3. Can a healthy second unit make the Lakers contenders?

In a perfect world, health isn't nearly as much of an issue for the Lakers in 2024-25 as it was in 2023-24. Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent will appear in far more than the 40 games they combined to play last season, and Los Angeles will show the NBA what it can do at full strength.

Working under the assumption that the starting lineup is as elite as it's seemed, a simple question arises: How much better would a healthy second unit really make the Lakers?

Vincent signed with the Lakers after scoring 20-plus points in six different playoff games as he helped the Miami Heat reach the 2023 NBA Finals. Vanderbilt landed a four-year, $48 million extension after showing the proficiency of a true lockdown defender.

Simply having those two healthy would make the Lakers an entirely different team than they were a season ago, with both providing the defensive prowess that was missing along the perimeter.

Another key question facing Los Angeles is the health of Christian Wood, who missed 32 games in 2023-24 and recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. When healthy, Wood is the player who averaged 22.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per 36 minutes on .520/381/.694 shooting between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

If the Lakers get a healthy season from Vanderbilt, Vincent, and Wood, and see returns on the investment in Max Christie, the second unit should be infinitely better than it was last season.

It simply remains to be seen how much of an impact that'll have on a 47-win team reaching that elusive 50-win target.

2. How long until Dalton Knecht gives a starters a run for their money?

For as promising as the starting lineup appears to be, one can't help but wonder how long it'll take until JJ Redick is faced with having to make a change. It's possible that he'll simply stay the course, but there's a player who could throw a wrench in those plans: Dalton Knecht.

Selected by the Lakers at No. 17 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, Knecht has the potential to be one of the best players to emerge from his class—and he's already showing signs of immediate value.

Knecht was excellent at Summer League and has picked up where he left off during the preseason. That includes the mesmerizing 35-point performance he produced against the Phoenix Suns, during which he scored 20 consecutive points for the Lakers.

It was an early display of how perfectly Knecht's game projects to translate to the NBA as an athletic three-level scorer with a potentially elite jump shot.

If the Lakers are winning at a high level and Knecht is thriving off the bench, there's a good chance Redick will simply keep the rotation as it is. Questions will be asked if he begins to outperform one of the starters, however, potentially resulting in a change to the group Redick uses at the end of games.

It's a possibility that could signal a brighter future for the Lakers than they're accustomed to on the player development front, but it could also force Redick to make a difficult decision.

1. JJ Redick is preparing well, but can he make in-game adjustments?

Even the skeptics have seemingly come around to giving Redick credit for how well he seems to have prepared for his first NBA season. He hasn't proven anything just yet on the court, but he seems to be connecting with his players and creating a refreshing list of priorities.

The next hurdle will be the most daunting of all, however, as Redick must now prove that he can make the proper adjustments in the midst of a game and season.

It's the single most challenging aspect of being an NBA head coach: Adapting on the fly. That could be as simple as changing substitution patterns, or as complex as managing the egos of players who feel undervalued in the role they play.

Redick has been saying and doing all of the right things since he was hired, but the real test is about to begin—and no one knows what to expect.

Redick played 15 seasons in the NBA and was the face of college basketball, but he's never coached above the amateur level. He's hired an experienced staff, including Scott Brooks and Nate McMillan, to help him navigate this unfamiliar territory, but new challenges await him, and he'll inevitably and understandably make mistakes along the way.

How Redick responds to adversity will define the culture that he establishes in Los Angeles during the 2024-25 season—and how successful the Lakers can be.