Last year, it took Darvin Ham a very, very long time to settle on the starting lineup that Lakers fans—and especially THE LAKERS PLAYERS—wanted to see.
JJ Redick didn't even make it to training camp before landing in that spot. Speaking with Zach Lowe on his podcast, he said the group that starts will be the one that went 23-10 last season. That would be LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. This isn't necessarily a blockbuster decision. First, that group was quite successful together last season. Second, there aren't exactly a ton of alternatives. Aside from Jarred Vanderbilt stepping in for Rui, how many different options does Redick really have, assuming these guys are all healthy?
But nonetheless, it's nice to get this sort of thing out of the way early, and Redick having the good sense to just go where everyone knows he should, and likely would anyway even with some sort of coachy, "we're all going to have to compete" posturing, is refreshing. If Darvin Ham had a tendency to overthink and overcomplicate, it's nice to see Redick isn't doing that with the starting lineup.
Moreover, settling on this now means the Lakers can go into training camp with a roadmap uncluttered by things that would unnecessarily take up time.
What else did Redick have to say? There was a lot in the interview (released a day before Redick will appear in El Segundo with Rob Pelinka in front of the media). He talked about LeBron and what it means to him for James to be "off ball." He talked about Bronny, about the perception many have that Redick "skipped the line," and more.
What should fans expect, and hope, to hear from him and Pelinka on Wednesday?
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: JJ Redick has a starting lineup!
**SEGMENT 2: **Redick on LeBron and the Lakers offense.
SEGMENT 3: What to expect from Redick and Pelinka on Wednesday.
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