J.J. Redick

L.A. Notes: Harden, Tucker, Porter, LeBron, Redick

October 4th, 2024 at 4:25pm CST by Rory Maher

Following the offseason departure of Paul George, Clippers star James Harden knows he’ll have an increased workload in 2024/25. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the 35-year-old said he’s in great shape (Twitter video link via Law Murray of The Athletic).

“I’m on pace,” Harden said. “At the start of the season I’m gonna be … in the best shape I’ve been in in five, six, seven years. I don’t really wanna talk, I just wanna go out there and show it. I feel like I’ve been talking too much.”

A 10-time All-Star and former NBA MVP, Harden averaged 16.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 8.5 APG and 1.1 SPG on .428/.381/.878 shooting in 72 games with Los Angeles last season. He re-signed with the Clips on a two-year, $70MM deal over the summer, including a player option for 2025/26.

Here’s more on the two Los Angeles-based teams:

Clippers forward P.J. Tucker, who exercised his $11.54MM player option for ’24/25 over the summer, was not present for the team’s media day, tweets Murray of The Athletic. It’s unclear if Tucker’s absence was a mutual decision or a sign of a deeper disconnect, but the 39-year-old was unhappy with his limited role last season after being sent to the Clips in the Harden deal. For what it’s worth, Tucker is with the team at its training camp in Hawai’i, Murray notes (via Twitter).
Kevin Porter Jr. is grateful the Clippers gave him what could be his last chance after he was out of the NBA last season, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Porter reached a plea agreement of a third-degree reckless assault misdemeanor in January after having been originally charged last fall with felony counts of assault and strangulation following an altercation with his former girlfriend in New York. He may still face discipline from the NBA, which is investigating the case. “I’m accountable for whatever comes, the league is going to do what the league does and I’m ready for it,” Porter said. “I’ve been getting ready for this season and nothing else really is going to provoke that.”
Lakers superstar LeBron James will sit out Friday’s preseason opener vs. Minnesota for rest purposes but is expected to play in Sunday’s contest vs. Phoenix, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer, James is the oldest player in the league for the second straight season, turning 40 years old in December. James played for Team USA over the summer, helping the Americans win a gold medal at the Olympics in Paris.
In an interesting feature for ESPN, Ramona Shelburne takes a look at how LeBron’s decision to sign with the Lakers back in 2018 was influenced by the “standard of care” the organization showed during Kobe Bryant‘s final years — and how the team wants to avoid having the end of James’ career play out like Kobe’s did, with the team unable to surround its franchise icon with a roster capable of championship contention. Of course, the current iteration of the Lakers has a much higher floor than the group that won 65 total games in Bryant’s last three NBA seasons, thanks in large part to the fact that LeBron continues to play at such a high level.
New Lakers head coach J.J. Redick is earning early rave reviews from his players. Rui Hachimura and Bronny James cited the fact that Redick was in the NBA so recently as a key reason why it’s been easy to connect with him (Twitter links via Mike Trudell and McMenamin), while D’Angelo Russell lauded the first-year coach’s “high IQ,” per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Bronny, Christie, Redick, Pelinka

October 2nd, 2024 at 11:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

As he prepares for his 22nd NBA season, Lakers star LeBron James appears to be energized by the chance to compete alongside his son, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. After Wednesday’s practice, Anthony Davis detailed a spirited exchange between LeBron and Bronny James during a five-on-five scrimmage.

“It’s fantastic to be able to be here and witness it in practice,” Davis said. “Bronny hit a three over him today. Everybody was talking smack in Bronny’s favor. Then Bron came down and just bullied somebody. Just took it out on (the defender) — I forgot who it was — and got a layup. Bronny came down and hit another three, I think over Austin (Reaves). And Bron wanted the ball. So you could see, even though they weren’t matched up, the competition is there. And that’s what we love to see.”

At age 39, LeBron is coming off a long summer of basketball that culminated with a gold medal for Team USA in Paris. New head coach J.J. Redick has talked to team trainer Mike Mancias about slowly getting LeBron ready for the start of the season, but he declined to divulge any details.

“I think we have a pretty clear plan,” Redick said. “We’ll share that plan when it’s appropriate.”

There’s more from Los Angeles:

LeBron believes third-year wing Max Christie is ready to take on a larger role this season, McMenamin adds in another story. A second-round pick in 2022, Christie received a new four-year, $32MM contract this summer. “I think for me it’s kind of just proving myself again,” Christie said. “I haven’t proven too much as a player in this league. I’ve had spurts and sporadic moments where I’ve been really good, but I want to put a whole season together. Hopefully I get the opportunity to do that this year.”
Redick has to balance his analytical side with his basketball instincts as he adjusts to viewing the game as a coach, observes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. Although Davis believes “numbers aren’t anything,” they’re very important to Redick, who wants as much statistical data as he can get. “More information is better,” Redick said. “That’s how I … every person we’ve hired, that’s been a key thing that I’ve told them. ‘Do you want to get in the weeds?’ ‘Yeah, I do want to get in the weeds. Yeah.’ So as much info as possible.”
General manager Rob Pelinka had a surprisingly quiet summer in terms of personnel moves, but he indicated at a recent press conference that he’s willing to part with future first-round picks to make the Lakers better this season (hat tip to Lake Show Life). “I think the philosophy that J.J. and I are aligned on is: We want to build sustainable Lakers excellence … every lens that we look through has to lead to sustainable Lakers excellence,” Pelinka said. “So the direct answer to your question is: Yes, we would do a trade with both (available first-round draft) picks if that would lead to sustainable Lakers excellence. We would also use one pick to make a marginal upgrade if we felt it was the right thing to do.”

Los Angeles Notes: Leonard, Harden, Lakers Rotation, Redick

October 1st, 2024 at 6:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard anticipates he’ll be on the court for the team’s regular season opener, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes. Leonard has been dealing with inflammation in his right knee during the offseason. However, Leonard acknowledges knee issues will remain an ongoing concern.

“Everything has been going great for the past month, but being very cautious for reasons in the past we haven’t been able to finish some playoff runs, so making sure we’re staying healthy for those important moments,” he said. “Trying to maintain it and figure it out. We’ll be in here for a long time if I started describing stuff [about the injury and treatment] … but just learning on how it came and how to keep it down and make sure that we don’t fall in that timeframe of [missing time in] those important [late-season] moments and just making sure I’m healthy. There’s certain stuff that we could do or try to do to make me last.”

Leonard, who signed a three-year max extension in January, is encouraged by the fact he played more often last season.

“I played my most games I’ve played in a long time last year,” Leonard said. “Last two years I came back from ACL and been injured and it’s a progression for me. It was successful for us last year. Obviously from a fan base [perspective] or just from my own competitive nature, we didn’t reach a goal [of winning a title]. But in the grand scheme of things and how my body’s been doing it, it was a good year. I went from zero games to 52 to 68. So let’s see if I could keep it going from there.”

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

With Paul George signing with the Sixers and Russell Westbrook also out of the picture, the Clippers will lean heavily on 35-year-old James Harden this season. Harden says he’s up to the challenge, Ben Golliver of the Washington Post tweets. “It’s definitely going to involve a lot of me,” Harden said. “There was talk when I was in Houston… ‘You can’t win like that.’ You just saw a guy [Luka Doncic] last season make the Finals playing the same exact way I played.”
Lakers first-year coach J.J. Redick envisions a nine-man rotation, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. Redick mentioned Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jaxson Hayes, Max Christie, Cam Reddish and Jalen Hood-Schifino as some of the candidates for bench rotation spots.
Redick and his staff are already receiving compliments from the players, according to Buha. “I just think the whole structure and foundation these coaches have brought in for us is a great start,” Austin Reaves said. “Because I feel like a lot of times last year we won games off talent. And when you have talent around structure, then you have the opportunity to do something really special.” Christie said Redick has gone to great lengths to explain his philosophy: “J.J. has done a really good job, I think, to start. Definitely imposing himself as a coach. … I think he’s done a really good job kind of explaining what our offensive identity, defensive identity and so on is going to be.”

Lakers Notes: Osman, James, Davis, Redick, Coaching Staff

September 9th, 2024 at 7:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cedi Osman did not turn down a training camp invite from the Lakers before signing with Panathinaikos in Greece, according to Marc Stein in his latest Substack post.

A Eurohoops.net report indicated Osman had an offer on the table from the Lakers to join the team for training camp but that he turned it down without having assurances he’d make the regular season roster. Stein’s report suggests that wasn’t the case.

The Lakers already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and are less than $50K away from exceeding the second apron, so even if Osman had joined them in training camp, it wouldn’t have made sense to retain him on a standard contract. Osman hopes he can play his way back to the NBA next season, Stein adds.

We have more on the Lakers:

Head coach J.J. Redick isn’t concerned about LeBron James and Anthony Davis shortening their usual offseason regimens after playing in the Paris Olympics, Daniel Starkand of LakersNation.com relays via a ‘Spectrum’s Lakeshow Podcast.’ “I mean, look, those guys are professionals in every sense of the word,” Redick said. “My concern for them about whether or not they’ll be ready to play on Oct. 22 and be in shape, I don’t have that concern. We’re gonna work with (athletic trainer Mike Mancias and associate athletic trainer Jon Ishop) making sure that they feel that they’re in a great place to start the regular season. They’ll certainly be involved in training camp and the preseason here in September, as well as preseason games.”
Former head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks are among the assistants on Redick’s staff. The first-year head coach is thrilled with what he’s seen so far, Starkand notes from the same podcast. “I couldn’t be happier with the staff that we’ve built here, we have a blend of youth, experience,” Redick said. “Obviously Nate and Scotty, but also Bob Beyer, who has been at the front of the bench for almost two decades in the NBA. The biggest thing for me was I wanted to make sure I had a bunch of sickos on my staff and I think I’ve accomplished that. They’re grinders.”
In case you missed it, Christian Wood required knee surgery that will sideline him for the early weeks of the season. Get the details here.

Pacific Notes: Redick, Buss, Lakers, Warriors, I. Jones

August 23rd, 2024 at 2:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Appearing on the Petros and Money radio show on AM 570 Los Angeles, Lakers governor Jeanie Buss explained the team’s decision to hire J.J. Redick as its new head coach. While he was a longtime NBA sharpshooter, Redick lacks high-level coaching experience.

“We wanted to kind of think a different way,” Buss said, per HoopsHype. “Really, he’s got a vision. I’m not comfortable talking about the basketball stuff, but we were looking for a candidate that would bring something different and really invest in developing young players.

“J.J. is the right person for us. Again, I just want to work to really speak for itself, so I don’t want to hype it and say it’s gonna be a home run. We have to give him time to establish what he wants to establish.

“I’m really impressed with his staff. Right now, it’s not mandatory for the players to come in and practice but players are coming in and working out. The coaching staff with Nate McMillan and Scotty Brooks, there’s a lot of experience that will be there for him to make that adjustment to being a head coach. … He knows what this league is about and I think he’ll be a great leader.”

Here’s more from the Pacific:

The Lakers have hired Dr. Leroy Sims to be their new director of player performance and health, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic). Sims, who was most recently the NBA’s senior vice president, head of medical operations, was also Golden State’s medical director and team physician from 2011-14.
The Warriors will hold their training camp this fall in Hawaii instead of their home arena, the Chase Center, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. As Poole explains, while holding the camp in Honolulu will be costly, the team views it as a necessary expense to “promote healthy bonding” amid major changes to the roster and coaching staff.
Theo Lawson of The Spokesman-Review details Isaac Jones‘ unusual NBA journey, which included playing for a junior college in Washington for multiple seasons before he received a Division I offer. Jones signed a two-way contract with the Kings after going undrafted out of Washington State in June. “I wasn’t supposed to be here, but kept my head down and grinded and now I’m here,” he said. “It can all change in like two days. It happened so fast, so don’t take anything for granted and just work hard.”

L.A. Notes: Bronny, Redick, Miller, A. Johnson

July 13th, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

After a rough start to his NBA career in Summer League play, Lakers guard Bronny James may begin the upcoming season in the G League, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James was in the spotlight on Friday during his first game in Las Vegas, where a partisan Lakers crowd cheered every positive thing he did. However, the shooting woes he experienced during the California Classic continued, as he was held to eight points while going 3-of-14 from the field and missing all eight of his three-point attempts.

“I’m just looking forward to any basketball I play, no matter what level I’m playing at,” James responded when asked about the possibility of playing in the G League.

McMenamin notes that James’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, seemed opposed to a G League assignment when he warned teams not to draft his client if they planned to offer a two-way contract. James received a standard four-year deal from L.A., but he may need time to develop his game before being ready for the NBA.

Summer League coach Dane Johnson, who also guides the South Bay Lakers, indicated that no discussions have taken place about where James will start the season.

“I don’t know about that yet, so I can’t really comment on that,” Johnson told reporters. “But I think all these guys are going to be in the G League at some point — the draftees.”

There’s more on the two L.A. teams:

J.J. Redick joined his former ESPN broadcast partners during Friday’s game to explain why he decided to become the Lakers‘ head coach, relays Jacob Rude of Silver Screen and Roll. Redick said he felt a “calling to coach” and he wanted to test himself in a “high stakes, high pressure” environment. “The other part of it is,” Redick added, “in my retirement, I realized what gives me fulfillment and what gives me drive and motivation and that’s competition, that’s performance, that’s collaboration, being part of a team … the other parts of that are leadership and service. I said this in my press conference, like a big driving factor in this for me is I just want to help people. I want to help players. I want to help coaches. I want to empower people. I, obviously, want to help this Lakers organization get back to the top.”
After scoring 36 points Friday night, Jordan Miller said his goal is to earn a standard contract with the Clippers, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 24-year-old wing played on a two-way deal last season and earned All-Rookie honors in the G League.
Long-time NBA player Amir Johnson is working with the Clippers this summer to help develop the team’s prospects, Murray tweets.

Lakers Notes: Bronny, Knecht, LeBron, Redick, St. Jean

July 7th, 2024 at 12:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Bronny James had an uneven debut with the Lakers on Saturday at the California Classic summer league, writes Anthony De Leon of The Los Angeles Times. The 55th overall pick of last month’s draft, James finished with four points (on 2-of-9 shooting), two assists, two rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes.

“Overall [I need to] just be aggressive, believe in myself and know that I can make plays for myself and my teammates,” James said. “Playing my game on the defensive end, especially because I believe I know how to play.”

“He’s going to play — granted, if he’s healthy — throughout this whole thing,” summer league coach Dane Johnson said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We’re going to try to integrate him and try to get him as many reps as we can. Because he needs more experience playing. And especially the NBA game. It’s a little different than college, so getting reps in the NBA, in an NBA setting with good players will help him in the long run.”

First-rounder Dalton Knecht also showed signs of rust, De Leon notes, putting up 12 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals, but going just 3-of-12 from the floor in 26 minutes. The Lakers lost to the Kings by 14 points.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

ESPN insiders McMenamin, Kendra Andrews and Baxter Holmes provide their takeaways from Bronny’s debut.
LeBron James was ecstatic that the Lakers drafted his son Bronny, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “For me to see my son to be able to, you know, be in the NBA alone. I mean, it’s always been a dream of his and for us to be side by side … there’s a loss of words, to be honest,” LeBron said after his first practice with Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics.”I mean, the kid has worked so hard to get back to this point. There’s just so much that’s happened over the last year with him to have this happen less than a year from his incident to be with our friends and our family. When they announced his name, it was something that was super surreal, and it’s kind of still, our family still don’t even have enough words to explain the feeling that we had.” Both LeBron and Anthony Davis — another member of Team USA — were optimistic about the hiring of J.J. Redick as head coach, Bontemps adds.
Replacing Darvin Ham with Redick has been the Lakers’ biggest offseason move to this point. Will a new coach be enough to improve a team with a roster that’s mostly the same as 2023/24? Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group explores that topic.
The Lakers are hiring Greg St. Jean as an assistant coach on Redick’s staff, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). St. Jean, who was an assistant in L.A. when the Lakers won the title in 2020, has worked for Dallas and Phoenix in recent seasons, Scotto notes.

Lakers To Hire Nate McMillan, Scott Brooks As Assistant Coaches

July 3rd, 2024 at 10:26am CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers plan to hire a couple of veteran head coaches to be the top assistants on J.J. Redick‘s staff, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks are joining the team.

McMillan and Brooks are the first assistants confirmed to be joining Redick’s staff. The Lakers had been looking for experienced coaches as former NBA sharpshooter Redick is a first-time head coach. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin recently reported (via Twitter) that Dwane Casey, another longtime coach who is currently in a front office role with Detroit, withdrew from consideration for an assistant job with L.A., as he “did not want to uproot his family at this time.”

One of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders during his 12-year playing career with the Sonics, McMillan transitioned to coaching after he retired from playing, including multi-season head coaching stints with Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta. The 59-year-old holds a career regular season record of 760-668 (.532 win percentage) and 28-48 record in the postseason (.368%). McMillan took a year off to reportedly spend time with family after he was fired by the Hawks in 2023.

Brooks is another former NBA player turned coach, spending 10 years in the league as a backup point guard from 1988-98. He was the lead coach of the Thunder for seven seasons and the Wizards for five, compiling a 521-414 regular season record (.557%) and 49-48 mark (.505%) in the postseason. The 58-year-old has been an assistant with Portland the past three seasons.

Rajon Rondo, Sam Cassell, Jared Dudley, and Jacque Vaughn are among the other names that have been floated as possible candidates for Redick’s staff, though Cassell (Boston) and Dudley (Dallas) may not be available.

L.A. Notes: Bridges, George, Tucker, Gentry, Thompson, Bronny James, Hood-Schifino

July 2nd, 2024 at 8:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers have some interest in free agent forward Miles Bridges, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports. Bridges averaged 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season for the Hornets but his history of domestic violence allegations may have turned off some potential suitors. A sign-and trade would likely be required for the Clippers, with Norman Powell ($19.2MM) and Terance Mann ($11.5MM) among the potential trade pieces if something comes to fruition, Turner writes.

Law Murray of The Athletic confirms that the Clippers are exploring the possibility of adding Bridges, but he believes that the forward has more interest in the potential union than the team does. According to Turner, people close to Bridges view the Clippers as a fit due to the organization’s apparent willingness to give players second chances.

Los Angeles reached a deal earlier in free agency with guard Kevin Porter Jr., who also faced domestic violence allegations, and previously signed Joshua Primo, who was waived by the Spurs after he was accused of exposing himself to multiple women.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

An interesting side note on the failed Clippers-George negotiations, which led to his departure to Philadelphia: George, a California native, was “increasingly turned off” by the Clippers’ belief that he would stay with the team just so that his family could attend the games, according to The Athletic’s Murray.
In the same story, Murray reports that the Clippers are expected to part ways with P.J. Tucker this offseason, either by trading or waiving him. Tucker picked up his $11.54MM option for next season. Using the stretch provision to reduce his impact on the 2024/25 cap would be an option if he’s waived, Murray notes.
The Lakers are interested in adding longtime NBA coach Alvin Gentry to J.J. Redick’s staff, Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Gentry coached Anthony Davis and Redick in New Orleans.
Klay Thompson upset a member of his family by choosing to go the Mavericks instead of the Lakers, ESPN relays. Father Mychal Thompson, who played for the “Showtime Lakers” in the 1980s, wanted Klay to follow in his footsteps, he said in a SiriusXM NBA interview. “I’m really disappointed. I was hoping, as you can assess, that he would be a Laker,” Mychal said. “And it was close. It came down to the Lakers and the Mavs, but the Mavs won out. But you know me, I was hoping and praying he’d finish his career with the Lakers.”
There are many skeptics, but Redick said second-round pick Bronny James “earned” his way onto the Lakers, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Rob (Pelinka) and I did not give Bronny anything,” Redick said. “Bronny has earned this. … Bronny has earned this through hard work.” LeBron James‘ son said he’s ready for the spotlight. “For sure, amplified amount of pressure,” Bronny said. “I’ve already seen it on social media and stuff, and the internet and stuff and talking about that I might not deserve an opportunity. But I’ve been dealing with st life. So it’s nothing different, but it’s more amplified, for sure. But I’ll get through it.” Bronny will sign a standard contract.
Lakers 2023 first-rounder Jalen Hood-Schifino won’t be on the club’s Summer League roster, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times tweets. He’s still rehabbing from back surgery.

Lakers Notes: Redick, LeBron, Davis, Murray, Reaves

June 25th, 2024 at 2:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking on Monday to reporters, including Dave McMenamin of ESPN, J.J. Redick made it clear that he wasn’t offended by the fact that the Lakers publicly pursued UConn’s Dan Hurley before circling back to him, joking that, as a “two-time 55 Swish League champion in the third- and fourth-grade division,” he can’t match coaching résumés with a two-time national champion.

Lakers head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, who said Redick was always alongside Hurley in the team’s “Plan A pool” of candidates, defended the decision to hire a first-time coach by pointing out that head coaching experience and NBA experience “aren’t mutually exclusive things,” as McMenamin relays. Redick, of course, played in the league for 15 years before transitioning into a media role.

“I think in industry in general and in sports in specific, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in patterns of being in a sea of sameness and doing the same thing that everybody else is doing,” Pelinka said. “But when we embarked on this search, it was really important for us to see if we could do something a little bit different. And quickly in our conversations with J.J., it was very evident that he had a unique perspective and philosophy on basketball and how it’s to be taught.”

Pelinka told reporters that Lakers star LeBron James – Redick’s co-host on the ‘Mind The Game’ podcast, which will no longer record new episodes – was “supportive” of the club’s head coaching search but wasn’t involved in the process at all. Redick said he didn’t talk to James about the position until last Thursday, after he’d been offered the job.

Anthony Davis, on the other hand, “chose to be very involved,” according to Pelinka, who referred to the star big man as “very excited” about the hiring of Redick. The new head coach has some ideas for new ways to use Davis, as he said during his introductory press conference.

“One of the things I brought up with him is just the idea of him as a hub (on offense),” Redick said. “There’s a bunch of guys at the five position in the NBA that sort of operate in that way. I don’t know that he’s been used in that way and sort of maximized all of his abilities.”

In addition to factoring into the Lakers’ head coaching search, Davis’ opinion appeared to carry weight in the decision to part ways with Darvin Ham in the spring. According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, league sources believe that concerns about how Davis viewed Ham were something the Lakers weighed when they opted to make a change.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Redick identified offensive rebounding, three-point attempts, turnovers, and defensive schematics as areas he wants to improve during his first season on the Lakers’ bench, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. According to Buha, Redick and Pelinka both talked up “player development,” pointing to the need to identify and grow young talent due to the restrictions in the new CBA. They’re already coming up with ideas for how to connect with the younger players on the roster. “J.J. and I have had some really robust conversations around innovation and sort of even gamifying player development,” Pelinka said. “We’ve talked about how do we translate coach Redick’s offensive system to app-based or a phone-based deliverable where players can be buying into a philosophy and learning it in a way that meets today’s young player. And I think innovation has got to be at the core of that.”
While Pelinka alluded to the restrictive CBA and stressed the importance of player development, Amick hears from league sources that if James and Davis have their way, the Lakers would do all they can to acquire another impact player this offseason. Amick adds that James isn’t content simply “coasting” through his final NBA seasons and still “desperately” wants to compete for championships.
Although there’s a widespread belief that James will stick with the Lakers this offseason, he has yet to give the front office any indication of his plans, Amick reports, adding that the four-time MVP appears open to playing two or even three more seasons.
According to Amick, the Lakers could have had Dejounte Murray from the Hawks in February if they’d been willing to add Austin Reaves to their package — that could be an option again this summer, Amick says, but L.A. continues to resist the idea of parting with Reaves in a deal for Murray.

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