Luka Doncic's historic start to the season has grabbed most of the Los Angeles Lakers headlines lately (for good reason), but let's not pretend like this entire squad isn't cooking right now.
Through their first 10 games, the Lakers are 8-2. They've already avenged their lone home loss of the season (to the Portland Trail Blazers on October 27) by defeating Portland in a second meeting on Friday (though Portland was without Ja Morant).
LA's other loss of the season (to the Golden State Warriors on the road) was a game in which the Lakers led by 25 points and should've won.
The Lakers are one of the best teams in the NBA to start 2026-27
What's really impressive about LA's torrid start is that this is a brand new team of players who are just getting used to one another. The Lakers feature no less than 11 new guys, and yet this group has already developed enough chemistry early to be a winning NBA team.
A lot of that credit is owed to Doncic, who has been unstoppable and has ensured that the Lakers don't really have to worry a ton about creating offense (he takes care of all of that).
Third-year head coach JJ Redick definitely deserves credit, too, for bringing this group together on such a short timeline. (I should mention Luka again here, since his organization of a summer trip to Slovenia for the entire Lakers squad expedited the team-bonding process).
But Redick's really the person in charge of making sure all of these pieces fit, and he's done a good job so far. It hasn't been easy, either, even if the Lakers are making it look like it is.
JJ Redick has the Lakers looking like a team that's played together for more than 10 games
Answering a question on Friday, Redick revealed that communication has been a challenge for a team with a bunch of new faces, specifically regarding everyone using the same language and terminology when discussing schemes and strategy. Redick stressed the importance of patience while the new-look Lakers continue to learn each other's tendencies.
"Integrating a bunch of new guys around Luka and AR, and having everybody understand the concepts ... it's really important for us as a group [to have] patience ... the belief that this team can become a great team [is there] ... [but] that requires patience ... that whole process takes time."
Simultaneously, Redick acknowledged that there is a pressure to deliver results, and that the dichotomy of knowing things take time and patience, but also that you need to win games now, is what's most difficult about the current situation with these Lakers.
The Lakers would be ahead of schedule if they turned into a contender by year's end (in my view, anyway). But if LA surprised people and rode Doncic into an NBA Finals sooner than many expect, you have to believe Redick would be ready for that assignment.
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