The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2024-25 season officially ended after being eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Lakers lost in five games to the Timberwolves as they were unable to compete with their size, physicality and length across the board. Head coach JJ Redick broke down his team’s fourth quarter struggles and how hard it was to play without a center, though the reality is the team will have to wait until next year to get their lick back.
This upcoming offseason will be an important one for the franchise as they look to retool the roster with Luka Doncic in mind. However, Redick also emphasized the need for his players to come back in championship shape prior to the 2025-26 season after appearing to be gassed in the fourth quarters.
“I’ll start with the offseason and the work that’s required in an offseason to be in championship shape and we have a ways to go as a roster,” Redick said at his end-of-the-season press conference. “And certainly there were individuals that were in phenomenal shape. There’s certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. It’s where my mind goes immediately is we have to get in championship shape.
“And then I know Rob talks about the roster…look I think this group we figured out a way to make it work. I have full confidence in all the guys and you certainly want individual improvement. But then you gotta figure out whatever that roster looks like on October 1st, again it’s resetting how do I maximize this group, how does our coaching staff maximize that group. And it could be different. May 1, June 1, July 1, August 1, you have to be prepared for that. And ultimately it’s about trying to maximize the group, whatever that group looks like.”
Redick also said the team will look to build out offseason programs for each player to work on in order to get in the shape necessary to compete for a title.
“I think that’s something we’ll build out over the next couple of weeks with our player development coaches and performance staff or training staff,” he said. “We obviously recognize it’s a long season and some guys have routines and it’s not that we’re looking to completely break routines but we do want to have a program in place for each guy so that when they come back in August, September we can build off of that and start training camp in a really good spot conditioning-wise.”
Los Angeles averaged just 17 points per game in the fourth quarter in the playoffs, so Redick has every reason to want them to improve in that area. Getting each players’ body right before the start of next regular season could go a long way toward their title hopes, with Doncic being the first name that comes to mind for that.
Rob Pelinka emphasizes need for Lakers to add more size at center position
Not only do the Lakers need to get in better shape, they also need reinforcements. President of basketball operations Rob Pelinka already knows that the team will need to add more size at the center position, though it remains to be seen who they’ll target.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
