After their loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers currently sit at 29-19, good for sixth in the Western Conference. While that is a good record and the Lakers are right in the thick of the playoff race, most don’t consider them a true championship contender.
As the trade deadline nears this week, it is believed that the Lakers need to make a move or two in order to raise their ceiling as a team that can compete with the NBA’s elite. But head coach JJ Redick sees a lot of positives from his team and what they’ve shown all season long.
When asked whether the Lakers can compete for a championship as currently constructed or need to make a trade, Redick praised his players, saying they’ve been great all season long and have done a great job recently of playing for each other and trying to play the right way, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We’re right there in the playoff chase in the West and I think our guys have been great all season. They’ve really done a nice job of kind of responding to the ups and downs that a season presents, that’s natural to the NBA cycle. I think whether you’re a GM, a coach, a player, you’re never gonna look at a roster and say this is a perfect roster and all of the pieces fit perfectly together. It doesn’t really happen a lot. Guys have done a great job over the last month and change of trying to play for each other and trying to play good basketball together.”
Obviously, Redick isn’t just going to come out and trash his players, but he isn’t wrong in that this team has worked hard to try and come together as of late. And no matter how down people look at this Lakers team, they are right there within a couple games of having home-court in a first-round playoff series.
Getting Austin Reaves back healthy will certainly make a difference and if they can swing a deal to bring in someone who can help with perimeter defense, that would be great. But with how much negativity surrounds this Lakers team, it is great to see Redick backing his guys and pointing out that there is still plenty of good things happening as well.
JJ Redick reflects on one year anniversary of Lakers acquiring Luka Doncic
Of course, the biggest thing to happen to the Lakers over the past year was the acquisition of Luka Doncic and JJ Redick reflected on the shocking deal and where he was at the time on the one-year anniversary.
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