Despite their inactivity in free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers have embraced the need for change during the 2024 offseason. Los Angeles parted ways with previous head coach Darvin Ham, hired JJ Redick in his place, and began to place a greater emphasis on internal player development.
It's a promising start to the new era of Lakers basketball, but it won't count for much if the team fails to make three essential alterations to its on-court strategy.
Los Angeles began the offseason by hiring Redick, and selecting Dalton Knecht and Bronny James at the 2024 NBA Draft. Its next move was to re-sign 21-year-old shooting guard Max Christie to a four-year, $32 million contract.
Los Angeles has since assembled a coaching staff that will surround Redick with former NBA head coaches and player development specialists.
The infrastructure has been created for the Lakers to address their flaws and build a team that can sustain its quality play beyond a single season. It's been a challenge the organization has thus far struggled to overcome during the Rob Pelinka era.
The question is: What exactly must Redick and the Lakers do differently in 2024-25 to ensure the best possible results for the coming season and beyond?
1. Embrace the three-point shot
Los Angeles finished the 2023-24 regular season ranked No. 8 in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage. That fact would make one think that the Lakers utilized the outside shot to their advantage, prioritizing their elite efficiency and placing immeasurable pressure on opposing defenses.
Instead, Los Angeles complemented its top-10 ranking in efficiency with the most mind-boggling fact of the season: It ranked No. 28 in three-point field goal attempts.
It's one thing to lack the personnel to shoot more threes, but another choice entirely to actively decide against embracing a strength. That's what Los Angeles did a season ago, and the approach cost them dearly throughout the 2023-24 campaign.
Thankfully, Redick has made it clear that he intends to encourage the Lakers to attempt the three-point shot with more regularity in 2024-25.
The Lakers were an admittedly dominant force along the offensive interior, with Anthony Davis and LeBron James anchoring those efforts. Providing improved spacing and less physically demanding buckets will be essential to helping them continue to do so, however, especially as James enters his age-40 season.
Considering the two teams that reached the 2024 NBA Finals ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the NBA in three-point field goal attempts, it's safe to say Los Angeles needs a change in philosophy.
2. Rui Hachimura must start
The usage of Rui Hachimura caused a self-inflicted wound that directly impacted where the Lakers finished in the 2023-24 Western Conference standings. He played 29 games off the bench, during which time Los Angeles was discernably worse than when he started.
If the Lakers are going to make the most of the 2024-25 season, then Hachimura must start—and there's ample reason to believe they can play at a 50-win level if he does.
In 2023-24, Hachimura averaged 15.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on .575/.439/.727 shooting when he was in the starting lineup. In 29 games as a reserve, he played just 22.1 minutes per contest and inevitably saw a dip in efficiency to .475/.398/.754.
To make matters worse, he played at least 30 minutes in just 24 games—during which time he averaged 17.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game on .558/.425/.741 shooting.
It should thus come as no surprise that Los Angeles was 26-13 when Hachimura started and 14-15 in the games he came off the bench. That 26-13 record sets the pace for a 54-win season if rounded down, while the 14-15 mark equates to a 40-win campaign when rounding up.
If you're still not sold, try the fact that the Lakers' four-man lineup of Davis, Hachimura, James, and Austin Reaves ranked in the 86th percentile in net rating.
Suffice it to say, Hachimura needs to start and spend significant time alongside his fellow core players.
3. Young players must be allowed to play through their struggles
As fans and critics question where the Lakers' depth will come from in 2024-25, one can't help but look back at how the development of young players has been handled. Since 2022, Los Angeles has selected Bronny James, Max Christie, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Dalton Knecht, and Maxwell Lewis at the NBA Draft.
James and Knecht are incoming rookies, but the trio of Christie, Hood-Schifino, and Lewis have been effectively disregarded during their brief NBA careers.
Christie finished his rookie season averaging 12.5 minutes per game and played a mere 14.1 in 2023-24. Hood-Schifino, a top-20 pick in 2023, played upwards of 10 minutes in a game on just three occasions during his entire rookie season.
Lewis, meanwhile, maxed out at eight minutes played, which he reached twice during his 34 appearances as a first-year player.
It's understandable for a coach to be reluctant to include rookies in a veteran-heavy lineup. However, the Lakers have handed out an abundance of high-cost contracts, have one of the oldest co-star pairings in the NBA, and failed to integrate the most cost-efficient players on the roster to support them long-term.
If the Lakers are going to turn things around in 2024-25 and build something that can last beyond next season, then giving the young players a chance to play through their mistakes will be essential.