JJ Redick did not mince words when ripping into the Los Angeles Lakers defense following their blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns. Using just one syllable, he made it unassailably clear to the front office that it’s time to make a trade.
We are not attempting to read between crowded lines here. When asked by a reporter whether the Lakers have “enough players who are hardwired to play with consistent effort and physicality,” Redick simply replied, “No.”
Frustration bordering on resignation doesn’t get much clearer than that.
The Lakers defense is not championship-caliber
Los Angeles currently ranks 25th in points allowed per possession on the season. It has been even worse since Thanksgiving, during which time it’s 28th in defensive efficiency.
Sitting well north of .500, with an elite offense, has papered over some of the concern. To the Lakers’ credit, they have overcome key injuries to keep pace, so far, in a Western Conference that permits little to no margin for ever.
Still, we can no longer sit here and pretend like they have enough, or are playing nearly well enough, to be looped into the inner circle of title contenders. Not without making a trade, anyway.
Harp on whether they should start Jake LaRavia, move Ruo Hachimura to the bench, change some of their rotations, etc. all you want. This team clearly doesn’t have the in-house personnel to fix a defense circling the bottom of the parallel.
It’s time for the Lakers to make a trade
Even if they are not thrilled with Redick’s delivery of the overarching message—and to be fair, he did expand beyond his one-word takedown—the Lakers have no choice other than to act on it.
Doing nothing is tantamount to taking a high-level gap year. They are relevant, make no mistake, but they have no chance in you-know-what of beating the standard-bearing Oklahoma City Thunder four times across a seven-game series.
On the bright side, virtually every Lakers trade rumor is proof they understand their defensive deficiencies. Someone like Herb Jones has been mentioned ad nauseam, and would be a perfect fit. The same can be said about potential interest in Andrew Wiggins.
Fortunately for the Lakers, they have the short-term and expiring contracts to easily match various levels of incoming salaries. Whether they have the raw assets is a separate matter.
They can trade just one first-round pick ahead of the deadline (2031, or 2032). That isn’t nothing, but distant firsts don’t have as much appeal when your team is built around Luka Doncic. The front office also must decide whether it’s willing to trade a pick now, rather than wait for the summer, when they can flip up to three total selections (2026, 2031, and 2033).
Yet, even if the Lakers prefer to sit on their first, that’s no excuse for doing very little, let alone absolutely nothing. Names like Keon Ellis, Ochai Agbaji, Ayo Dosunmu, Naji Marshall, Derrick Jones Jr. (currently injured), Robert Williams III, Matisse Thybulle, etc. should all be gettable without requiring the team to offload a first-rounder.
If the Lakers care at all about making the most of this season, they’ll be in on every name listed here—and many more. The situation on defense, quite frankly, demands it.
And now, JJ Redick basically is, too.