Even though the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t made many roster moves this offseason, one big change has come with the hiring of new head coach JJ Redick. There have already been talks about changes Redick will make with this team with many of them centering on superstar big man Anthony Davis.
Redick has spoken about Davis being a hub on offense, operating with the ball more and creating for others with more player movement. Davis is coming off his best season with the Lakers and taking the burden off LeBron James will only be possible with him operating at the highest level.
Davis has had some conversations with his new head coach and the two are on the same page. According to Ben Golliver of the Washington Post, Davis says he is in total agreeance with what Redick wants from himself and the Lakers:
Redick plans to shift some of the offensive burden from the 39-year-old James to the 31-year-old Davis and to put greater emphasis on player development. Davis said he had a “great conversation” with Redick before the first-time coach was hired, though he acknowledged “it’s going to take time” for the Lakers to jell.
“[Redick] talked about me being the hub of the offense,” Davis said. “That will be different. We won’t know everything until [training] camp when we’re able to get on the floor. We want LeBron to shoot more threes. [Redick] wants to play fast and defend. From what he was telling me, I’m in total agreeance with what he has planned for us. … The goal at the end of the day is still to win a championship. You can’t skip steps.”
As Davis noted, they won’t know everything until the team gets together for training camp, but the vision is something that the big man seems to be excited about. His ability to anchor a defense can’t be questioned as he is one of the premier defenders in the NBA, and now Redick will look to unlock him even more offensively which should only benefit the Lakers overall.
It will take some time as the Lakers will have to learn a new system, but with Davis and James leading the way, everyone else will follow and it will be up to Redick to put everyone in the right places for this team to succeed.
LeBron James confident Lakers can compete for championships with himself and Anthony Davis
With the lack of roster moves this summer, however, most wouldn’t consider the Lakers a championship contender, especially as other teams continue to load up. But LeBron James still has the utmost confidence in himself and Anthony Davis.
James recently re-iterated his belief that the Lakers can compete as long as he and Davis are on the roster leading the way. He added that he feels the Lakers aren’t far off, even in an extremely competitive Western Conference.