JJ Redick, L.A. Come To Terms

As Duke’s all-time leading scorer moves into coaching

Duke’s influence on basketball expanded Thursday even as Duke’s influence on basketball media may have contracted as JJ Redick has been hired as the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Reportedly, Redick has a four-year deal worth about $32 million.

There’s a lot of criticism from many quarters because Redick has never coached before. But he’s certainly been exposed to brilliant coaching and part of the reason why the Lakers hired him is because they’re impressed with his basketball IQ.

There are a lot of possible pros and cons to the hire. Here are some to consider

Pro:

• Redick is a really, really smart guy.
• LeBron James approves, and that’s kind of a must for his teams.
• L.A. is a big job that requires somebody with some media savvy. Redick certainly has that and he’s built it in an entirely unprecedented way through podcasts and later ESPN. That takes some talent and insights.

Cons:

• L.A. has very high standards. However, the star (James), is close to aging out of the game. He’s nearly 40 and while he’s still effective, if you watched games this year, you saw players like Zion Williamson who had no fear of him anymore whatsoever. And he didn’t even try to defend Williamson when they matched up. Is he still effective? Obviously. Is the the LeBron of five years ago? Not even close.
• L.A. is the NBA’s answer to the Boston Celtics, but the Lakers do not have an answer to Brad Stevens, who did a brilliant job building the 2024 NBA champs. Rob Pelinka has shown a limited imagination. The second best player is Anthony Davis, and while he’s tremendously gifted, he’s also been brittle and injury-prone.
• The Lakers are virtually obliged to draft Bronny James to placate his dad and if anyone else does it before they do, LeBron is a free agent and likely to leave to play with his kid as that’s a long-stated goal.
• L.A. is on the verge of a major rebuild with a mediocre G.M. We have a lot of respect for Redick, but we’re not sure patience is one of his many virtues. Is he willing to lose the way L.A. is likely to lose soon? And if it comes down to it, Pelinka will sacrifice his coach before he falls on his own sword. That’s just reality.

All that said, we’re thrilled that he’s getting an opportunity like this. Now let’s see what he makes of it.

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