By hiring JJ Redick as head coach, the Los Angeles Lakers have embraced the ambition to adapt to the modern era of the NBA. It's entirely unclear whether Redick will succeed as a first-time locker room leader, but his knowledge of the game and ability to educate viewers as an analyst has some at least partially intrigued by his potential.
Roughly one month after he was officially hired as head coach of the Lakers, Redick's players are beginning to shed light on how he plans to run his offense.
Much could change between now and the 2024-25 regular season, but Redick has been outspoken about his desire to modernize the Lakers. He wants to implement new systems on both ends of the floor and create a culture of accountability behind closed doors.
In a recent interview with Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Lakers guard Max Christie spoke about what Los Angeles' offense will look like under Redick and how he fits into the new coach's system.
"Just being that guy that can kind of take a load off of them, especially with my shooting ability and spacing the floor. The good thing with JJ, especially this is how he kind of played when he was in his career, there's going to be a lot of free-flowing movement in our offense with cuts and pindowns and all sorts of stuff. That's what I've been working on here at home, especially with the coaches in Vegas and even in California, too. "
This comes on the heels of Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht revealing that Redick has spoken with him about moving more when the ball isn't in his hands.
Max Christie sheds light on JJ Redick's offensive gameplan
Redick has made it clear that he wants the Lakers to shoot more threes during the 2024-25 season. It's just one element of what he plans to differently than previous head coach Darvin Ham, who seemingly resisted the opportunity to embrace the outside shot.
In 2023-24, the Lakers ranked No. 8 in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage, but finished at No. 28 in three-point field goal attempts.
By re-signing Christie and drafting Knecht, the Lakers made a clear commitment to improving in that area. Christie is a career 37.8 percent shooter from beyond the arc through two NBA seasons, while Knecht knocked down 39.7 percent of his threes with the Tennessee Volunteers in 2023-24.
The idea of a free-flowing offense supports the increased emphasis on the outside shot, as attempting more threes will provide improved spacing.
That should benefit franchise players Anthony Davis and LeBron James immensely. Both ranked in the top 10 in the NBA in points in the paint a season ago, and should be able to score more efficiently with additional room to operate on the drive or in post-up situations.
It should also help James, who will turn 40 early in the 2024-25 regular season, after he shot a career-best 41.0 percent from beyond the arc in 2023-24.
With more off-ball movement, the Lakers should avoid putting pressure on any one player to produce a lion's share of their offense. That might be the single biggest development of this new philosophy, as Davis and James can have more offense created for them and less of a burden to create for others.
It's still to be determined how this will materialize and what type of buy-in Redick will receive, but this shift in philosophy is a welcome sight in Los Angeles.