JJ Redick is not easing the Los Angeles Lakers into the post-LeBron James season. With Luka Dončić healthy, Austin Reaves back and a reworked supporting cast led by Walker Kessler, the third-year coach has put a championship standard on the group before the regular season has even opened.
Key takeaways
- Redick said he expects the Lakers to grow into a title-caliber team during this season.
- Dončić arrived at camp healthy after a hamstring injury sidelined him for more than a month late last season.
- Los Angeles paid heavily to acquire Kessler from Utah, sending two first-round picks, two pick swaps and signing him to a four-year, $130 million contract.
- New guards Colin Sexton and Quentin Grimes give the Lakers more creators around Dončić and Reaves.
- Kessler believes the Lakers have the perimeter pressure, rim protection and wing depth to become a difficult defensive club.
Redick sets a standard in a crowded field
At his Sept. 24 news conference, Redick did not take the usual preseason route of lowering the temperature around a roster still trying to establish itself. Shortly after basketball operations president Rob Pelinka offered a more measured assessment, Redick made his own position clear: he believes this team can reach championship level this year.
It is a bold projection for a club that lost James to Philadelphia over the summer and now turns fully toward a Dončić-centered core. The Lakers are not widely viewed in the same tier as the defending champion New York Knicks or the West’s established powers in San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Projected-win markets had 10 teams ahead of Los Angeles.
Redick said the confidence is not a public-relations exercise designed to sell belief to his locker room. He pointed to what he has watched from the roster: his past experience playing or coaching against many of them, the veteran minicamp in Las Vegas during mid-July, and the work completed through August and September.
“We see this every day, and I’m not going to coat it in sugar,” Redick said. “Those other teams have earned their reputation, but that doesn’t change anything for us. We’re following our own road.”
Dončić is the foundation of that conviction. The 27-year-old finished fourth in last season’s MVP voting and entered camp without the hamstring issue that cost him more than a month at a critical point last year, when 41-year-old James helped carry the Lakers to a first-round playoff win over Houston.
Dončić reached 15,000 career points last season as the sixth-fastest player in league history. His 29.2-point career scoring average ranks fifth at this stage of a career, behind Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He also remains on pace to become the first player to average at least 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for a career.
There is also a visible physical change. Dončić has looked leaner and more mobile for a second straight offseason, moving past the idea that last summer’s conditioning work was simply a reaction to the way Dallas framed his departure. The Lakers see a more durable commitment from their lead star.
More ballhandling, more length and a defensive bet
Kessler changes the shape of the roster. The 25-year-old center supplies the vertical target and back-line rim protection Dončić had during Dallas’ 2024 Finals run with Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford. Los Angeles paid a major price to get him in a sign-and-trade, surrendering two first-round selections and two first-round swaps before committing $130 million over four years.
Redick sees some familiar offensive logic in the Dončić-Reaves pairing. Like Dončić and Kyrie Irving in Dallas, both guards can create shots and run offense, though the Lakers will need their surrounding personnel to cover defensive vulnerabilities. Redick’s preferred answer is depth: more shooting, more secondary handling and a deeper wing rotation willing to do the hard defensive work around the stars.
The Lakers finished 53-29 and fourth in the West last season, ranking 10th in offensive rating but only 20th defensively. Redick said his comment that the pieces finally fit was not intended as a slight toward previous groups or James. It was about balance.
“It means we have depth,” Redick said. “We have other ballhandlers besides Luka and AR, more shooting and more volume shooting, an elite rim protector and strong wing defenders. That combination matters.”
Sexton joined on a two-year, $19 million deal, while Grimes signed for four years and $60 million. Los Angeles also added Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams on one-year veteran-minimum contracts. Kessler specifically cited those additions along with Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Grimes and Sexton when discussing the club’s defensive options.
“I could name the entire roster,” Kessler said, after describing the Lakers as a group capable of making opponents uncomfortable with on-ball pressure and a collection of defensive tools. Asked directly whether Redick’s title talk was warranted, Kessler did not hesitate: “Absolutely. We have versatility, and the group is connecting. That kind of connection is part of what makes championship teams.”
Redick knows the declaration will not be validated in September, or by a preseason night against Golden State when at least one opposing scout dismissed the premise. His point is that the Lakers do not need outside approval to begin their work. In his view, a championship team is built over the season, not announced at media day.
