Similar to last season, the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten good health from their superstar duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, but have seen many role players be in and out of the lineup due to injury. Head coach JJ Redick has yet to have Jarred Vanderbilt or Christian Wood at his disposal this season while Jaxson Hayes has also missed significant time as well.
The Lakers have shown the ability to compete with some of the best teams in the league at times this season, but inconsistency has been an issue. If the Lakers truly want to reach contender status, most believe some kind of trade must be made. But any potential deal is not on the mind of Redick himself right now.
While Redick is in regular contact with Rob Pelinka, the Lakers coach is focused on getting the best out of the roster he has in front of him and furthermore, believes this team can compete as constructed, if they’re healthy.
“Rob and I talk all the time, but my focus is on coaching this group and trying to maximize this group,” Redick said after Lakers practice on Friday. “Frankly, I have belief that when this group is healthy, we can compete. If there’s a move to be made, there’s a move to be made. But I’m focused on this group.”
The health caveat is one that the Lakers have been holding on to since last season, but at this point it’s something they can’t rely on. The impact Vanderbilt can have has been seen as he is truly one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and Wood at his best can help this team immensely, but the timeframe on their return is still vague.
For Redick, the mindset of focusing on the players he has at his disposal is the right one and really the only one he can have. As he said, if there’s a move that happens then it will happen, and he will worry about that if and when that time comes. But make no mistake, if the Lakers plan on contending for a championship, some kind of addition needs to be made.
JJ Redick believes Max Christie starting gives Lakers more defensive optionality
One move JJ Redick recently made for the Lakers is inserting Max Christie into the starting lineup which has worked out well so far. One thing the Lakers coach likes about it is the different looks it allows the Lakers to have defensively.
“I think Max being in the lineup gives us a little more optionality with how we want to match up with teams,” Redick said. “Within the game, not necessarily how we start matchups, but then being able to cross-match, which we did against Golden State.
“It’s having AR [Austin Reaves], which he was doing at the beginning of the year, guarding a primary guy then we put Cam [Reddish] in and AR off. He had a good stretch. Then we had Dalton [Knecht] in and AR kind of had to go back to that a little bit. So, I like Max in that lineup. It gives us more optionality defensively.”
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