Austin Reaves ‘can’t wait’ to work with ‘genius’ JJ Redick

Austin Reaves showered JJ Redick with praise when discussing the Lakers head coach.

The Lakers' search for a coach is over, as the team has reportedly agreed to a four-year deal with JJ Redick.

With the offseason in full swing, it's been difficult to get any current Lakers talking about the hire, but Austin Reaves discussed it with local Little Rock, Arkansas, reporter Cierra Clark.

“Yeah, I’ve gotten to know JJ a little bit. Going on his podcast during the middle of the year. He’s a basketball genius, as everybody knows. I think he’s going to make a good coach and I can’t wait to get to work with him.”

The honeymoon stage with a coach is always positive, but this is a breath of fresh air compared to how things were last season under Darvin Ham.

It wasn't that players bashed the former Lakers head coach, but it was more about what wasn't said. Quotes from players praising the coaching staff and game plans were hard to come by.

Anthony Davis even said the Lakers 'don't know what we're doing' at times in the middle of the team's playoff series against the Nuggets.

What was even wilder was Darvin Ham pushing back on that statement, saying he "agrees to disagree" with the star forward.

Compare that to this high praise from Reaves calling Redick a "basketball genius," and you can see that, at least in the beginning, the vibes around the Lakers will be better at the start of this season compared to how they were at the end of the last one.

Reaves also had friction with Ham and called it a "tough" situation being benched early last season.

Under Redick, hopefully, no demotion will happen and Reaves can take a bigger leap in his development.

The Lakers guard averaged 15.9 points and 5.5 rebounds, both career highs, but most feel there is more potential there.

If Redick is the one who can unlock the best version of Reaves, that could take the Lakers back near the top of the Western Conference and out of the play-in standings they've been living under the last two seasons.

Reaves seems excited about Redick as the coach and the Lakers clearly were as well since they hired him. Now, we just need to wait to see it all put together.

There are many weeks left for that, though, as we still have to get through the NBA Draft, free agency and the Olympics before we can see how Redick and Reaves gel.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.