Lakers’ JJ Redick Drops Major Hint That Lineup Change is Coming

The Lakers finally got together on Saturday for what coach JJ Redick had foreshadowed as an “uncomfortable” day at practice, following the team’s embarrassing Christmas Day loss at home to the Rockets, a 119-96 decision to open a Lakers homestand. Redick was visibly angry on Thursday night after the loss, calling into question his team’s effort, whether his players cared and whether he could handle coaching all that many more games with this group.

Redick had, at least, calmed quite a bit by the time he popped up at the Lakers facility after practice to talk to reporters. And while he toned down the way he talked about his team on Saturday, he did stick with one central notion that had shone through after Thursday: He wants changes.

Redick noted that personnel groups generally need 250 minutes on the court to get a read on their strengths and weaknesses from an analytical standpoint. He seems to think he has enough of a grasp on his 250-minute lineups. He’s ready to make changes to how he deploys his players.

“There’s certainly trends that we’re looking at, that we’ve kind of made some decisions on where we’re gonna go,” Redick said.

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Lakers Will Be Without Austin Reaves

What those decisions are will remain a mystery until the Lakers play again on Sunday night against the Kings. One decision was made for Redick–Austin Reaves is out with a calf injury that will sideline him for at least four weeks. That opens a starting spot which  will likely be filled by Marcus Smart.

There could be more starting lineup changes, if  Redick chooses to bench Rui Hachimura and move Jake LaRavia or Jarred Vanderbilt in with the starters. That could be a tougher transition–the Lakers might like to move Hachimura back to the bench, but they don’t have an obvious replacement for him.

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JJ Redick: ‘I’m Always Gonna Look in the Mirror’

To open his meeting with reporters, Redick appeared intent on putting his hand up for his share of the Lakers’ blame, after having hurled his frustration onto his roster on Thursday.

He said Saturday was a day for: “Recalibration. Reconnection.

“I think too, today, for myself, I’m always gonna look in the mirror first. I think it’s easy as a player and a coach to say well it’s this guy’s fault, or we’re not doing this because of X, Y and Z. So, we had a great meeting as a staff this morning, came in super early and met with the players. It was very positive. And it was also listening, it was also, for our staff and myself to listen to the players—what they need.”

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Lakers on a 3-Game Losing Streak

Redick described the Lakers’ day of meetings and practice as an airing of grievances, and said whatever complaints he had about players were raised, and vice-versa. For a Lakers group that has lost three straight to drop to 19-11, the hope is that ironing out these differences will spawn a turnaround.

“I think the group is aware. The group feels it,” Redick said. “They’re on the court together, they’re in the huddles together. There wasn’t anything that needed to be addressed that wasn’t addressed. There’s times as a coach, you can’t address everything every day in front of the group, that’s just not how this works.

“We, my staff and I, we do a good job of, if there is something in the moment that needs to be addressed, it gets addressed. I don’t feel like we live in a passive-aggressive environment. Sometimes you need to have a bigger setting.”

 

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney