EL SEGUNDO — With the Lakers hosting their annual Preseason Media Day on Monday and training camp scheduled to open on Tuesday, President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka and Coach JJ Redick provided answers on Thursday about what to expect from the team entering the upcoming season.
One of the biggest revelations from their joint press conference was Pelinka revealing that Redick received a contract extension after his first season at the helm as a first-time head coach.
But the media availability still left plenty of unanswered questions for the Lakers as they prepare for 2025-26.
Here are five storylines to follow as the Lakers enter camp, with their first preseason game set for Friday night in Palm Springs against the Phoenix Suns:
LUKA DONCIC’S PHYSIQUE
There has been a lot of noise about Luka Doncic’s improved physique compared to how he ended last season – to the point that he appeared on the cover of a late July edition of Men’s Health, which included one of three stories with the headline, “Luka Dončić 2.0 Has Entered the Chat.”
Doncic addressed the changes he made with his diet and conditioning regimens during a media availability in early August to celebrate signing his three-year contract extension with the Lakers.
“Obviously, I was on my way [to] doing it,” he said. “But it was just kind of a fresh start.”
The benefits of Doncic’s changes were on display while playing for the Slovenian national team during EuroBasket.
The 26-year-old Doncic moved better laterally on defense and attacked pick-and-roll coverages quicker as a ball-handler.
Redick believes the changes Doncic made will be long-lasting.
“This is his life, this is his routine, this is just a daily commitment to the new standard that he set for himself,” Redick said. “His excitement level, not just in what he hopes the season will be, but his excitement level in embracing this new standard, was very high. You see him play in EuroBasket, and he’s moving better, he’s defending.
“All the things that you saw at the end of last year, where the layoff from the calf injury, whatever emotions he was going through post-trade, it had an effect on him. I expect the best version of Luka and it’s my job as a coach to bring that out on a daily basis.”
LeBRON JAMES’ FUTURE
For the first time in his illustrious career, LeBron James will be playing on an expiring contract when he suits up for his unprecedented 23rd NBA season this fall, which will be his eighth with the Lakers.
With James not having a long-term deal with the Lakers, questions have naturally arisen on what he will ultimately do beyond this season.
And the speculation was only fueled when James’ agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, issued statements that made it less clear how much of James’ future will be with the Lakers after he opted into his $52.6 million player option for 2025-26.
“The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years he’s going to continue to play,” Pelinka said. “He’s earned that right. But we’ve been very intentional this summer in terms of the pieces we [added] with Luka and LeBron once LeBron opted in, making sure that they had the necessary pieces around them to be on a really competitive, strong team and we built into that and for that.”
Pelinka reiterated that the Lakers want James to play out the remainder of his career with the franchise.
“We would love if LeBron’s story would be [that] he retired a Laker,” he said. “That would be a positive story.”
Monday should provide James with an opportunity to not only address his uncertain future, but also reveal what he made of the Lakers’ offseason moves.
STARTING LINEUP
Entering last fall’s training camp, Redick had not only determined the starting lineup he wanted to open 2024-25 with, but revealed it publicly.
That wasn’t the case this season.
Redick is leaving the door open on the starting lineup ahead of the start of camp.
“It’s not that important to me,” he said. “I haven’t spent a ton of time thinking about it. We certainly have a number of players – seven or eight starter-level players in the NBA. Not gonna spend too much time banging my head against the wall on that before we have a practice.”
Doncic, James and center Deandre Ayton, who the Lakers signed after his contract buyout with the Portland Trail Blazers, are virtually locked in as starters.
Redick said Doncic and Austin Reaves will be the team’s primary ball-handlers, suggesting Reaves is also expected to start, leaving one final slot open in the first unit.
Rui Hachimura, who has been a starter for the past 1½ seasons and ended last season with the Lakers as a starter, and Marcus Smart, the 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year who signed with the Lakers after his contract buyout with the Washington Wizards, are expected to be two of the main candidates for the fifth starting spot.
REDICK’S 2ND SEASON
Redick’s first season at the helm of the Lakers started with promise, including a 50-32 regular-season record, before a disappointing finish, a five-game, first-round playoff exit against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Months after acknowledging he can do better, Redick shared how he spent the offseason preparing for his second season as the Lakers coach.
“You do a lot of self-assessment, and that was really what I spent a lot of the first probably 4-6 weeks on, sort of self-assessment,” Redick said when asked if there was anything that stood out about his reflections. “But I would say the two words that immediately when you ask that question popped in my mind are philosophy and methodology: the philosophy of how we want to play; the methodology as a coach of how I want to teach that. And so that’s where I spent a lot of time this summer.”
WHO IS THE BACKUP CENTER?
With the signing of Ayton, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft who has averaged 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds in his first seven NBA seasons, the Lakers solidified their starting center position after relying on small-ball lineups for significant periods to close out games last season.
But who will be the primary backup big man?
The main options are Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber.