LOS ANGELES — Media Day arrived on Monday for the Lakers with nine fresh new faces taking the podium.
No longer with LeBron James, the two leaders of the ball club, Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić, sat down first in a buzzing UCLA Health and Training Center. Walker Kessler, LA’s biggest offseason addition, immediately followed.
Pairing Kessler’s screen-and-roll ability with the two star guards makes for a predictable, but theoretically effective, setup to build on the one that finished 10th last year.
The Lakers, though, have plans to switch things up on offense this season.
“Just being able to be versatile in what we’re going to do every single possession,” Reaves said. We’re going to be able to do different things this year that we were not capable of doing last year. We’re going to be able to play more free-flowing basketball, and it’s not going to have to be pick and roll every single possession.
“So, we’re going to implement a good offense, and we’re going to move the ball side to side and get teams in rotation.”
With Luka, LeBron, and Reaves, it’s no secret there was a challenge of getting the three ball handlers on the same page. Head coach JJ Redick even mentioned installing “utility plays” to force actions where all three were involved, interchangeable as screeners or creators rather than two standing around watching while one attacked.
The starting lineup with all three that played the most games together included Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton, who are no longer on the roster. The five-person group posted an abysmal 103.4 offensive rating, which would’ve ranked last in the league by a mile.
While Kessler admitted the pick and roll with lobs will still be a “big part of the offense,” a more movement-based style of play includes him being more versatile overall.
“Last offseason and this offseason, it was big to expand my game on the offensive side,” Kessler said. He noted his comfort as a passer and shooter.
Kessler hit six 3-pointers in the five games he played last year in Utah, while hitting the same number in 58 games the season prior. While a small sample, his assists also doubled to almost two per game. These added skills make him a potential offensive hub, with guards and wings cutting or slashing around the big wall he creates.
While the full starting lineup is yet to be named, it feels like an unofficial swap of Hachimura for Sandro Mamukelashvili also occurred over the summer. Representative of pretty much all of the changes LA made, Hachimura is the clear better shooter by percentage but less fitting for a more “free-flowing” type of offense.
“I think I bring a lot of versatility to the team,” Mamukelashvili said. “I just want to stretch the floor out, be a connector, be the guy to be able to go in the short roll, make right plays, give energy to the guys. Push the ball sometimes when I get in on defense, so we can go in transition and run more.”
Redick undoubtedly would love to run five-out offensive groups, and those lineups live on having multi-dimensionally skilled players like Mamukelashvili at every position. The versatility to not just knock down spot-up jump shots, but attack closeouts with decisive decision-making and correct reads.
Going into his fifth year in the purple and gold, Vanderbilt is now the second-longest-tenured Laker behind Reaves and has been with Redick for both seasons.
“The offense is great,” Vanderbilt said. “I think we have a lot of versatile guys that can do a lot on the floor. A lot of Swiss Army knives that fit in the system.”
Those Swiss Army knives all hopefully fitting into Redick’s basketball philosophy of getting dribble, pass, shoot players to fit around Luka and Reaves.
All the immaculate vibes pictured in Slovenia carried over to Media Day. Every player said what you’d like to hear about their role and buying into a new system. It begins with the two leaders, who stepped up to speak first.
Both had big smiles and looked excited about the opportunity to attack with a brand-new roster, spearheaded by a new franchise big man beside them. Meshing the guards’ deadly pick-and-roll ability with a more movement-based style could make the Lakers an extremely high-powered offense.
The fourth-highest-paid player behind the big three is Quentin Grimes, who inked a four-year deal with the Lakers this summer. An expected fourth starter and hopeful Swiss Army knife, he already feels confident in the group.
“How fast everyone’s been playing well off each other,” Grimes said, “playing pickup, learning new concepts, and doing drills, we all got along pretty fast. That Slovenia trip has sped that up, but knowing that we got a special group, we got a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things on this team offensively and defensively.
“I think we will probably shock a lot of people this year.”
You can follow Raj on X at @RajChipalu
