Lakers Training Camp Notebook: Max Christie stands out, Cam Reddish sits out, JJ Redick talks rotation size

The Lakers opened training camp on Monday with Max Christie standing out, JJ Redick revealing the size of his rotation and LeBron James talking about an early point of focus.

LOS ANGELES — The music was blaring, sneakers were squeaking, and vibes were immaculate on the first day of Lakers training camp. And why wouldn’t they be? The season has just begun, everyone has a fresh start and the Lakers have a new coach in JJ Redick, running the show.

“I would say our preparation bore fruit. It was very productive day,” Redick said following practice. “I thought our guys came with a really high level of focus and intent and all of the things that we talked about over the last six to eight weeks and the things that we talked about yesterday, were reflected in how we played basketball today.”

When speaking of yesterday, Redick isn’t referring to Lakers Media Day on Monday. To optimize time and get the most out of their first practice, the Lakers held a team meeting in Beverley Hills to get all of the talking out of the way so day one could be about the basketball.

“The reason I did that is one of the things that I’m big on is using time efficiently,” Redick said. “I haven’t been around LeBron a ton, but I know that’s big for him as well and I think as any NBA player will tell you, they really value their time. And I did not want to take time today to have some long meeting.

“So I used last night as a meeting to just set the tone for who we’re going to be on both ends of the floor and the things that we’re going to value as a group. And that’s really what last night was about.”

Max Christie stands out

Christie signed a 4-year, $32 million deal at the start of free agency and has been tabbed as one of the standouts of workouts over the summer. He continued his streak of standing out on day one of training camp.

While Redick has already established himself as a fan of Christie’s, LeBron joined in on Monday to sing his praises as well.

“I think Max’ll be a big part of our rotation,” LeBron said. “He’s gotten better and better and I’m happy we were able to bring him back in the summertime. I look forward to a bright season from him.”

There’s a lot of hype surrounding Christie and what he can do this season, but the belief is clearly there from the front office and the team. The time is now to seize this opportunity and shine in it.

Nine-man rotation

Redick has already shown a willingness to be open and share his ideas with the media, a welcome change to previous coaches. After Tuesday’s practice, he shared that he envisioned the Lakers having a nine-man rotation during the regular season.

“There’s a lot of guys that are going to compete for spots,” Redick stated. “I’ve always sort of envisioned a nine-man rotation for the regular season. So there’s definitely some competition for that ninth spot.”

The starters are automatic, which leaves four more spots left. Predictably, those remaining spots will be where the competition is during camp and Redick shared the names of those he’s expecting to be battling it out.

“There’s a lot of guys who are going to have a chance to play,” Redick said. “Beyond the obvious guys, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt when he’s healthy, Jaxson Hayes, Max [Christie], Cam [Reddish], Jalen [Hood-Schifino]. I know I’m forgetting someone.”

Vando’s injury means, in the short-term, there might be an opportunity for someone to make an impact. It certainly sounds like Christie will be one of the players getting a rotation spot and Hayes will have another. It would make sense if Vincent also had a spot locked down, leaving one spot for Vando, Reddish and Hood-Schifino right now.

Getting back in transition

While most of the chatter surrounding the Lakers has revolved around the offense and a desire from Redick to shoot many 3-pointers, defensively, there is plenty to fix from last season as well.

LeBron spoke about how transition defense, in particular, needs to be better and he didn't hold back.

“Last year we were horrific in transition defense,” LeBron said. “We got to be a lot better than that. We were pretty good half-court, but we gotta get our a---- back. If we’re not crashing, we gotta get back on the way to the ball and I think that’ll help out a lot defensively.”

It’s a year later but it’s refreshing to hear LeBron state this so matter of fact. In these early days of training camp and preseason action these will be the details in the game to monitor. Will players be getting back on defense?

How will they look on Friday defensively and will there be a noticeable difference compared to last season’s Darvin Ham-led team? There is plenty of work left to do and yes, the NBA season is a marathon, but each step matters.

From the sounds of it, day one got off on the right foot.

Notes and injury updates

• The Lakers were without Cam Reddish for part of practice on Monday. While he took part in most aspects of practice, he was held out from the full 5-on-5 scrimmages.

• Expectedly, Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood also did not practice with the team on Monday. Training camp invitee Jordan Goodwin also missed practice with a hamstring injury.
• The Lakers brought in a live DJ for their first practice. Yes, really.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.