LOS ANGELES — How would head coach JJ Redick describe how he wants the Los Angeles Lakers to operate this season?
The Hobbit
.“If you look at Lord of the Rings, all the guys from The Hobbit, those guys had to be connected,” Redick said next to Rob Pelinka during their Media Day press conference on Thursday. “They had to embrace the fact that they were allies, right?
“Looking at your teammates as allies and being connected to those guys, you’re not going to get through the journey without that. The
journey is going to be even more tumultuous than it is because the reality is there will be ordeals and trials along the way.”
Redick, Pelinka and the Lakers are just a few weeks away from the start of the Luka Dončić era, and the official end of LeBron James’, an era Pelinka wanted to take time to appreciate publicly before taking questions.
The transition in eras was marked by a complete teardown and rebuild of last season’s roster over the offseason, letting the likes of James, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard and Deandre Ayton walk, and bringing in Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton on multi-year deals.
The average age of the former group is just under 33. Of the latter? 26. That was an intentional change from Pelinka, who went into the offseason looking for youth to put around both Luka and Austin Reaves.
“One of the things we really wanted to lean into was a team that lined up in age with Luka and Austin,” he said. “We want this team to grow together, and I think we were very intentional to get younger and deeper.”
This team will in fact grow together. Kessler, Grimes and Mamukelashvili were each signed to four-year deals. The core of this Lakers team will be around for a while.
“We feel like this era is going to be an era of more continuity and having depth was important,” Pelinka said.
The importance of continuity and chemistry go hand-in-hand. Which is why Dončić took it upon himself to take the entire roster on a trip to Slovenia this offseason. It’s a trip that Redick feels is paying off in a big way as the season approaches, especially in an age where a player’s standing on the roster is held at the expense of modern media.
“It’s important,” Redick said. “It’s very easy to, especially now with the popularity of [NBA]2K, ESPN trade machine, sports betting, all that stuff, it’s easy to look at spreadsheets in terms of roster building and looking at the game (and asking) why is this team beating this team? This is a human sport. I talk about the human element all the time. And building chemistry, camaraderie, trust, respect for each other, that is an ongoing process, and it’s never too early to start.
“The one thing that I have seen, at least, in the last six, seven years in the NBA is the best teams are the most connected teams. And so that’s going to be part of our messaging to the team throughout the season is being connected.”
The camaraderie, in fact, was on full display between Pelinka and Redick on Thursday, who are entering their third season working together.
In response to Redick’s Lord of the Rings analogy, Pelinka asked if Redick was more Samwise or Frodo.
“I’m simultaneously Samwise and Gandalf,” Redick responded.
“Even better,” Pelinka said.
You can follow Connor on Twitter at @cmorenoNBA.
