JJ Redick: Lakers don’t have someone good enough to draw two on the ball or beat their man 1 on 1

[Camby_Bamby]

AD commands a double team for the most part, but he’s also asked to carry them on defense and clean ip the mistakes on the interior and perimeter.

He needs help.

[Tracymcgoaty]

LeBron and JJ are making passive aggressive comments at each other to the media. Should be fun.

Lebron said the coaching staff are doing their job and it's the players who have failed.

[PhilBlackson]

A nice endorsement of confidence by the COTY.

#apologizetoHam

[LAvision]

The Lakers should've got LaVine last summer.

With what money? Management is refusing to spend money. The Lakers are riding the LeGOAT train into his retirement. His prime was so great it lasted long enough to bring the Lakers a title, but management hardly did much considering Lebron choose them and so did AD. After the Lakers won in 2020 and gutted the roster, that alone should have told people that the franchise is just saving money.

We probably won't see management spend money towards winning until a few years after Lebron retires. The Lakers draft well but they don't build their championships through the draft unless you're a surefire star.

I really think they are preparing to sell the team.

What makes you think they are selling? The Buss’ ego is too big.

[og15]

So why did he take the job?

Huh? If you wait for the perfect/ideal job with all the ideal players on your roster before you take your first NBA job, you're probably not getting in.

Steve Kerr.

That's a good one, Kerr was touted by Phil, and around the league the question was where would he be coaching. He had a very favorable rep, he was seen as a strong leader with great communication skills and high b-ball IQ. So of course there are factors in play, but where you can coach always depends on what opportunities are available.

[sashaturiaf]

Lebrons puppet puppeting Lebron again

[axeman23]

I don’t think lebron is top 15 anymore especially with how much of a traffic cone he has been defensively this year. He’s been a lot of empty stats and AD is still clearly their best player.

But this roster is probably cooked.

Where's Curry's stellar defense? Harden's? Lillard's? Luka's? Booker's? Mitchell's? Hell, Jokics? All voted in Hoops Hype's top 22 for this year. But it's only a problem for 40 year old Lebron...

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-ranking-top-100-players-2024-25/

[Loneshot]

The Lakers should've got LaVine last summer.

With what money? Management is refusing to spend money. The Lakers are riding the LeGOAT train into his retirement. His prime was so great it lasted long enough to bring the Lakers a title, but management hardly did much considering Lebron choose them and so did AD. After the Lakers won in 2020 and gutted the roster, that alone should have told people that the franchise is just saving money.

We probably won't see management spend money towards winning until a few years after Lebron retires. The Lakers draft well but they don't build their championships through the draft unless you're a surefire star.

I really think they are preparing to sell the team.

The Westbrook trade that James pushed for sending Kuzma, KCP, Harrell, and a first round pick didnt really help either did it? Cant just blame management.

KCP was long gone when they went after Westbrook, but that still has nothing to do with management not spending. Lebron may suggest management to make a move (as every single star player/team leader has done since forever in sports), but obviously if he had his way the Lakers wouldn't still be struggling to get help five years after he signed to the team...

[Rust_Cohle]

I don’t think lebron is top 15 anymore especially with how much of a traffic cone he has been defensively this year. He’s been a lot of empty stats and AD is still clearly their best player.

But this roster is probably cooked.

Where's Curry's stellar defense? Harden's? Lillard's? Luka's? Booker's? Mitchell's? Hell, Jokics? All voted in Hoops Hype's top 22 for this year. But it's only a problem for 40 year old Lebron...

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-ranking-top-100-players-2024-25/

I don’t have curry in the top 15 this year and Jokic offers a hundred times more on the floor than LeBron does. Same with Luke and harden. They aren’t the empty stats he has been this season.

And Jokic while not a great defender is not as horrible of a defender as LeBron this season:

https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/amp/lebron_james_still_excels_on_offense_but_his_defense_is_a_nightmare/s1_13132_39890663

[srhcan]

https://youtu.be/ffQbLDx3b0k?si=acjZEjv0Tf8lYq-6

Watch on YouTube

Starts at around 9:05.

JJ says the team doesn’t have a huge margin for error and the team isn’t good enough to create one. Then goes on to say nobody on the Lakers is good enough to draw 2 on the ball or beat their man 1 on 1.

This is wild statement when you have Bron and AD (two top 15 players) on the team.


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This is the full quote, no need to summarize.

"We don’t have a huge margin for error. Nor can we create that margin organically," Redick said. "It has to be emphasized daily to touch the paint, to play paint-to-great mentality, make the extra pass. We don’t have a guy on our team that’s going to necessarily always draw two to the ball. We don’t have a guy on our team that’s going to be able to get past his guy one-on-one and get to the paint and spread it out to the perimeter. Like, that’s just not our team. So we have to do it through connectivity, through execution. And when we do that, we’re really good."

Look at the exact statement and some of the key words.


He specifically mentioned beating their man, drawing two to the ball and making passes, and he specifically says "always". So, first, that's not AD's skillset, he's not that guy, not that he can't pass or he can't score 1v1, but he's not a playmaker like that.

Second, Lebron is still a great passer, and in some matchups now he can touch the paint, draw two to the ball and of course he can make passes, but he can't consistently do that.

JJ is actually not saying anything controversial if we read it well.

Great post and totally agree with you.

[Drakeem]

He's not wrong. Bron is finally on a steeper decline and AD has never been a great go to ISO creator.

[Exp0sed]

With what money? Management is refusing to spend money. The Lakers are riding the LeGOAT train into his retirement. His prime was so great it lasted long enough to bring the Lakers a title, but management hardly did much considering Lebron choose them and so did AD. After the Lakers won in 2020 and gutted the roster, that alone should have told people that the franchise is just saving money.

We probably won't see management spend money towards winning until a few years after Lebron retires. The Lakers draft well but they don't build their championships through the draft unless you're a surefire star.

I really think they are preparing to sell the team.

The Westbrook trade that James pushed for sending Kuzma, KCP, Harrell, and a first round pick didnt really help either did it? Cant just blame management.

KCP was long gone when they went after Westbrook, but that still has nothing to do with management not spending. Lebron may suggest management to make a move (as every single star player/team leader has done since forever in sports), but obviously if he had his way the Lakers wouldn't still be struggling to get help five years after he signed to the team...

Lakers FO made mistakes after the chip, we can all agree on that but those were just basketball mistakes and weren't made for cost saving reasons

Also, LBJ is 40. AD was the most impactful player on the championshinp team and has remained their most productive player since, that's not a knock on LBJ..he's 40 for god's sake

Their role players are ok, their top two just aren't good enough to be a contending caliber team. If LBJ was smarter he should have taken substianally less money and they could have been more conpetetive and he could have spent his last couple of years maybe still playing for something.

In that scenario he still would have gotten the chance to take the big shots and make big plays, under the bright lights of a deeper playoff run, his teammates would have appreciated it (and the fans) and he'd get a couple more chances to add to his legacy and to be remembered more fondly, he chose not to and that's fine too but they are who they are, a first rd. exit at best that will be bounced handily by any of the contenders in the West

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[BadMofoPimp]

Teams with one star player win more via great ball movement. Probably hard to teach Lebron that at this stage.

[Lalouie]

So why did he take the job?

ego

[SkyHook]

Lebron is ranked 32nd in LEBRON.
It’s a sign

He's 67th in EPM.

[Wallace_Wallace]

They still some time to work things out considering they have a lead to 7th seed Mavs that are injury riddled (Doncic/Irving/Lively), but eventually this needs to be addressed.

Not sure how often Reeves/Davis pick and roll are being used, but they need to try something.

[infinite11285]

It’s time; the perfect last chapter for this generation of stars. Let them ride off into the sunset together.

[sashaturiaf]

Say it with me

Lebron needs more help

[MrPainfulTruth]

I mean...theres the LeBron bubble living under the delusion he is still a top 20 player and then theres everybody else who sees he is only interested in padding empty stats while his team gets steamrolled again and again. The solution to the Lakers dilemma is very simple. Get rid of the guy playing 35+ minutes while only showing effort on one end of the floor. THere has never been a team that won anything when consistently having only four defenders. And for this constant no show he locks up significant amounts of their money. He is the flat tire of this team, theres no use changing the oil. Might as well play it out and let him have his three year farewell tour.

[Mallie]

Thank you for opening our collective eyes. It needed to be said in order for people to finally see the facts. It is truth, although painful.