Thursday night's home loss to the Charlotte Hornets was the latest reminder that JJ Redick has his work cut out for him. The Los Angeles Lakers are somewhat of a mess, and Redick must figure out how to improve this team's trashy defense. He also needs to better maximize his minutes allocation.
In regard to the second objective, Redick would benefit from giving his younger players more consistent minutes, particularly Dalton Knecht and Nick Smith, Jr. Without ample reps during the regular season, LA's bench players/young legs aren't going to be ready for the postseason.
There's a growing NBA trend happening wherein coaches are placing more trust in their young guys for this reason. Redick might want to follow suit before it's too late.
NBA coaches are starting to trust their young players more
On a new episode of The Kevin O'Connor Show, O'Connor and Tom Haberstroh pointed out that teams like the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets are leaning into a youth movement. Take the Nuggets, for example. Head coach David Adelman knows that he'll need to rely on a guy like Peyton Watson (23 years old) in the NBA Playoffs. That's why he's flooding him with minutes now.
Sure, Denver has injuries, so some of the extra minutes for Watson and others have come out of necessity. But the Nuggets and Clips aren't the only examples.
We're also seeing New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown embrace his youthful bench. The Knicks coach is moving in a way that Tom Thibodeau would have never dared to.
Knicks point guard Tyler Kolek (24) will be reliable during the postseason precisely because Brown is allowing Kolek to blossom during the regular season. And to blossom, one must be allowed to play freely and without the fear of making mistakes. Throw a young player into the postseason without having gone through that process first, and the results will be gross.
This is all something Redick needs to consider when he handles guys like Knecht and Smith, each of whom is plenty talented enough to be in an NBA rotation. Against the Hornets, Redick played Knecht and Smith a mere two minutes apiece. Meanwhile, the rest of the bench combined for just nine points.
Gabe Vincent was 0-for-7 with zero points in 15 minutes against Charlotte. Kobe Bufkin (another young player, to be fair) was 0-for-2 with zero points in 17 minutes. What are we doing?
Redick should be even more eager to play Knecht and Smith, given the durability concerns with the Lakers stars. Vincent and Marcus Smart are on the wrong side of 30, as well, by the way. The Lakers aren't exactly a young team, and Redick makes them even older by not trusting his roster's fresh legs.
The trade deadline isn't bringing miracles for the Lakers. Redick needs to work with what he has.
Knecht and Smith need to be permanent fixtures of the rotation. Bufkin can keep getting minutes, too, but not at the expense of the two guys above. Lean into the trend. The Lakers starters will be overworked and out of gas by May with no one trustworthy behind them to pick up the slack.