The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to a strong start this season, due in large part to what has been a very good offense. Led by Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers have consistently gotten excellent looks and for the most part, have executed the system designed by head coach JJ Redick and his coaching staff.
The Lakers have been extremely efficient, leading the NBA in field goal percentage and true shooting percentage while ranking second in effective field goal percentage. But despite their overall efficiency, the Lakers are just outside of the top 10 in offensive rating and Redick knows the culprit and the thing this team needs to fix most is their turnovers.
“We’re No. 1 or No. 2 in shot quality, No. 1 in points per shot, No. 2 in field goal percentage, but we’re last in turnover percentage,” Redick said after practice on Thursday. “It’s the difference between having a, whatever we are, 12th offense and a top-four offense if we’re just league-average in turnovers. I think that’s the biggest clean up for us offensively.
“We’re top 10 in every single action in terms of efficiency, whether it’s on-ball, off-ball, [dribble handoffs], pick and rolls, isos. It doesn’t matter. We’re top 10 in every action. We’re just literally turning the ball over too much.”
To Redick’s point, the Lakers rank 29th in turnover percentage, ahead of only the Golden State Warriors. Their 16.9 turnovers per game rank 26th in the league ahead of just the Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Warriors and Dallas Mavericks. Put simply, it’s impossible for the Lakers to have an elite offense when they continue to turn the ball over so frequently. With the Lakers also not being a great 3-point shooting team, they simply can’t afford to also turn the ball over at this rate and expect to be successful at the highest level.
Perhaps getting another top-tier creator in LeBron James can help to alleviate this issue as when the Lakers are clicking, the offense is truly beautiful to watch. But the inability to take care of the ball is preventing this offense from being elite and Redick knows the Lakers must fix this issue immediately.
JJ Redick not ‘beholden’ to any Lakers starting lineup
Another question JJ Redick must answer is whether his current starting lineup is the ideal one for this Lakers team going forward. The group struggled defensively at times and some wonder whether something may need to change, and for his part, Redick said he isn’t necessarily beholden to any one group.
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