Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick Press Conference

With the light of the regular season starting to shine at the end of the tunnel, Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick met with the media today ahead of the organization’s media day and training camp.

Following a summer in which the team seemingly made little to no changes, many in Lakers nation were awaiting answers from the team’s decision-makers.

JJ started the presser by giving a breakdown of what they’ve seen to this point in the team facilities.

He noted that they’ve focused on player development and have been able to draw tremendous energy from the players involved.

As JJ put it, the ‘energy’ or ‘vibe’ was described as “focused joy.”

They even shared a funny story from practice of Bronny getting switched onto LeBron out of a screen.

This led to LeBron taking his first-born baseline and finishing with a nice little up and under at the basket.

This was met with some words being exchanged in a fun, competitive manner. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

JJ clarified the player’s involvement, jokingly stating that it was all “voluntary.”

Regarding player development, they also shared that young players like Max Christie and JHS have improved dramatically in the last two months.

This sentiment is similar to what we’ve heard about the young two-way center Colin Castleton.

If there can be legit progression with those young players, hopefully, they can become valuable role players for this team.

Injuries

This team has been hit by the injury bug much sooner in the season than they typically experience.

Jared Vanderbilt, Christian Wood, JHS, and newest Laker Christian Koloko all have question marks going into the season concerning their availability.

Today, Rob Pelinka cleared up some of the questions.

Unfortunately, on Vanderbilt’s situation, we got more lip service than you would typically receive from a member of the front office.

Phrases like “progressing well,” “lockstep in his program,” and “he still has a lot of ramp-up steps.”

Missing a player with his defensive capabilities for any portion of the season would certainly be a detriment. Hopefully, he will be ready by opening night.

Rob Pelinka says there is “optimism” that Jarred Vanderbilt will be ready to play by opening night. pic.twitter.com/uCyLV1u3y3

— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) September 25, 2024

Regarding Christian Wood’s more recent knee injury, Rob said that he underwent a “clean-up” procedure similar to Vanderbilt’s.

Hopefully, this will mean that when these two return, they’ll be back for good.

While they mentioned that Christian Koloko has not yet been cleared for play, they trust he’ll be ready and gave some good news for other players.

Injured players from last season, like Gabe Vincent and JHS, are healthy and cleared for training camp, which hopefully can provide the team some depth in the guard rotation.

The Redick System

We also received more insight into JJ Redick’s vision for this team. He alluded to certain players not having the ball as much in their hands.

He instead wants more off-ball movement in the form of screening and cutting from everyone.

Redick also mentioned that we can expect much more on-ball action from Austin Reaves, which makes sense as the newly-minted Lakers coach has been gushing over Reaves for the better part of the off-season. Can you blame him?

JJ pointed out how he loved Rui Hachimura’s performance with Japan throughout the Olympics.

He noted again that since Hachimura will spend much of his time in the corners, he should and will have an opportunity to crash the glass for more rebounds this season. Redick sees rebounding as a whole as a critical part of his coaching strategy.

When it came to his coaches, Redick couldn’t have been more excited.

Listing not only the diverse skill sets of each assistant but also letting us know that each one of his handpicked coaches is a “basketball sicko.” Sounds great to me.

Redick jokingly invited members of the media who love basketball to come visit a coaches meeting or practice to see what he meant.

A reporter jokingly accepted the invitation, which led to the room being filled with laughter.

Everything Redick said to this point gets you excited to watch this new brand of Lakers basketball.

The question is whether or not the ideas will translate to reality.

The Offseason

The Lakers, to much of the fan base’s chagrin, didn’t make any player moves this summer and specifically didn’t target any big-bodied centers.

This is a clear team need that most followers could see. When asked why they didn’t pick up a player of that archetype, we didn’t get the answer fans hoped for.

After questioning the reporter, “What exactly is your idea of a traditional center?”

Redick essentially did not answer. While debating semantics over who today would be considered a ‘traditional center,’ he mentioned how versatile Anthony Davis is as a big man.

He even shared the fact that a 7’2, 300lb center might not even work on this team with the way they want to play. Not quite the answers Laker’s faithful were hoping for.

On the lack of moves made this summer, Pelinka repeated tired lines about how difficult the new CBA makes things.

At least he prefaced it by saying, “This is not an excuse.” It sure seems like one at this point.

He frequently mentioned the idea of “sustained Lakers excellence” when asked about using their tradable pick.

Whether to make a splash trade or marginal move using just one of those picks, they want sustained Lakers excellence.

It was unclear whether or not the emphasis is on winning right now or building for the future.

The idea of sustained excellence is fantastic. However, we do have LeBron James on this team, which should lead to being all in.

Whether changes are made midseason or not, most Lakers fans are certainly hoping for excellence in any form this upcoming season.