JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers made the final addition to their coaching staff by hiring Zach Guthrie to be the head coach of the G League’s South Bay Lakers. But Redick has made it clear that Guthrie will play a major role with the Lakers as well, thanks to a new and highly-touted player development system that the head coach is trying to integrate.
Redick has spoken about this system on many occasions, specifically in reference to Bronny James as well. James is what Redick describes as the first player to go through this system, and he’s excited to see what it can do for the young former USC guard.
But until now, Redick has not gone into detail on exactly what this development system is going to look like. He finally gave some insight by describing the coaches involved in it and what exactly their roles will be.
“You guys want to talk about systems, let’s talk about systems,” Redick said at a recent press conference. “So we have three player development pods and all coaches have players within those pods that they are responsible for.
“So it’s not just Ty (Abbott) that’s in charge of player development. When we hired Zach Guthrie to be our G League coach, that was a big thing that we talked about is player development and having synergy and integration between our two teams and sort of Zach being an extension of our coaching staff. So some of that responsibility is communication, organization.
“Beau Levesque, who came from the Los Angeles Clippers in the player development role, has also had a big impact this summer. Greg St. Jean as well, Lindsay Harding. The four of them have done a lot of player development stuff and will continue to do so because we’re asking a lot of all of our coaches. We talked about all of us just being Swiss army knives and doing a bunch of different things while having defined roles.”
Part of making sure this system works is maintaining a strong communication and relationship within the coaching staff. That’s why they have been intentional about spending time together and building a familiar language.
“There’s a lot to it. With the coaching staff, the focus primarily has been building out our systems and building out our language. As we’ve done our smaller group workouts, and our individual player development, incorporating that language and those systems into those smaller workouts. I would say what we have tried to create is an energy and a vibe in the gym every day. It’s like a perfect balance of, I would call it, ‘focused joy,’ if that makes sense. We’re grateful every day to be in this gym – the staff, the players. But it’s focused, it’s intentional and it’s organized.”
If Redick is right about the Lakers’ new system, it should be a massive help for a team that is about to see a more repleished stock of draft picks. The 2025 draft marks the end of the Anthony Davis trade pieces and the Lakers have just one outgoing first-rounder after that.
JJ Redick not worried about lack of depth
Coming off an offseason in which the Lakers didn’t make any roster moves, many pundits are concerned about their lack of depth.
The only changes the Lakers made this offseason were drafting Dalton Knecht and Bronny James to replace Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie, who were two rotation players that departed in free agency. While Knecht may be NBA-ready from the jump, James will likely need a year or two in the G League to develop his game.
One person who isn’t concerned though is JJ Redick. He explained that he is concerned about the Lakers’ ability to stay healthy but not necessarily their lack of depth.
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