JJ Redick deserves a lot of credit for the work he's done since being hired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. His improvement over a short period of time has been astounding. There was hardly a learning curve, as Redick led the Lakers to the postseason in each of his first two campaigns.
In last year's playoffs, Redick outdueled Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, a guy who many NBA experts would rate as a better coach than Redick (he's certainly more experienced). Now entering his third season, Redick's poised to become one of the top head coaches in the entire league, and thus a real asset to the Lakers.
One thing about Redick is that he understands how to talk to the media. He knows that press conferences are a leveraging opportunity. Redick's quotes from pressers often stand out because he says things by competitive design. When he called Luka Doncic "not a normal human being" recently, Redick knew in the back of his mind that such a quote would only enhance Doncic's reputation in league circles and help Luka and the Lakers, whether through instilling an inferiority complex in opponents preparing to guard Luka, or reiterating that Doncic is one of the world's best players and deserves the world's best whistle.
It's not like Redick's carefully crafting every word that comes out of his mouth, but the guy's definitely always playing chess in press conferences. Another example came in late September when Redick asserted that the 2026-27 Lakers can develop into a championship team "this year". Redick later elaborated on his pleasure with the current Lakers roster, which he feels is the most complete and best-constructed depth chart he's had in LA in three seasons.
Redick was sure to temper his comments by noting that, “you don’t become a championship team in late September", but the fact that he already set a championship standard for these Lakers was notable ... if not a bit ambitious. At least one rival scout flat-out disagrees with Redick's assessment of the Lakers as contention-ready this season (per The Athletic's Sam Amick), and I'm in agreement with that. Who knows ... Redick might be, too, in his private thoughts.
The new-look Lakers will need a full season of growth and chemistry-building before they are title-worthy
As annoying as it is to admit, Doncic and Austin Reaves haven't been through any playoff battles together yet. Doncic missed all of last postseason. The Lakers lost in the first round in 2025. Can we really expect this duo to survive battle-tested squads like the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs this year? It feels like Luka and AR need a collective scar or two before they're ready to go on a serious run. It might only need to be one postseason of adversity, but it'll take at least one.
And that doesn't even take into account the rest of the Lakers' roster, which features, first and foremost, a guy in Walker Kessler who's never sniffed postseason basketball. All of LA's other new pieces will need time to gel with one another and learn how to sacrifice for one another. Relationship-building is a part of it. It's not just a basketball thing. Look how long it took the New York Knicks' core to become an unstoppable unit -- more than one season, that's for sure.
If Redick's a smart man (he is), he must know that the Lakers are still at least one year away from truly contending. But why go into the season with that hanging over their head? By setting a standard that's unreachable, Redick's hoping to push the Lakers to be something collectively that they cannot be as a group of individuals. And this should set them up beautifully for 2027-28.
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