JJ Redick hasn’t publicly commented on the state of the Los Angeles Lakers as he has interviewed for his or her head-coaching job. In the course of the search that led as much as the rent of Darvin Ham in 2022, although, he had lots to say. “Till they begin constructing their workforce like each different workforce within the NBA does, within the fashionable NBA, I do not assume this can be a good job,” he stated on a 2022 look on ESPN’s Get Up.
The roster that the Lakers have constructed since then is way nearer to league normal than it was in 2022. Russell Westbrook is gone. There’s extra taking pictures even when there is not sufficient of it. Each place is addressed a minimum of considerably. On paper, the Lakers a minimum of considerably resemble a traditional NBA workforce. The Detroit Pistons don’t. Their two finest gamers, Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, are each level guards. The fringes of the roster had been populated largely by draft busts from different groups like Kevin Knox, James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley. None of their gamers ranked within the prime 90 within the NBA in made 3-pointers. That they had too many facilities and no true wings.
There’s a world during which the best coach may take over the Lakers and make them 50 wins with the best tweaks. That is not taking place for the Pistons, a minimum of not but. They’re nonetheless comparatively early right into a rebuild that is not far-off from getting costly. Cunningham is eligible for a rookie extension this offseason. Ivey and Jalen Duren might be eligible subsequent summer time. There are going to need to be exhausting choices about who stays and who goes right here. On the very least, the Pistons want a reshuffle to diversify the talent units of their core gamers. At most, they could ultimately have to acknowledge that Cunningham is the one cornerstone piece they’ve and re-evaluate their attachment to anybody else. If Redick’s aim is to win proper now, the Lakers are a greater wager for him.
It ought to due to this fact come as no shock, then, to listen to that, a minimum of for the second, the basketball world appears to count on Redick to land in Los Angeles, not Detroit. ” Redick is at present a first-rate candidate for the Lakers job, so it is not identified how a lot traction Detroit may really acquire,” Yahoo’s Vincent Goodwill reported. If Redick is on the end line with the Lakers, he could not even hear the Pistons out.
However there are significant connections right here. Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem was as soon as Redick’s agent. President of basketball operations Trajan Langdon labored within the Pelicans entrance workplace that signed Redick as a free agent in 2019. Each are Duke alums identified for his or her 3-point shot. He could not have hosted a podcast with any present members of the Pistons group, however there is a viable infrastructure ready for him in Detroit if he needs to pursue it. Even when he does, there is no assure he’d get the job. This is not precisely a binary alternative. He is spent weeks pitching himself to at least one workforce. The opposite is just at some point into trying to find its personal coach. But when the Pistons are critically , it is a job Redick ought to pursue. Detroit is a greater match for him than Los Angeles.
Considerations over Detroit’s roster are legitimate. The Pistons are a fixer-upper. It will take time for them to get it proper. Time is one thing the Lakers haven’t got. LeBron James is about to show 40, in spite of everything, and Anthony Davis is 31 with an in depth damage historical past. They’re a Play-In workforce whose trajectory in a loaded Western Convention is pointing down. They might attempt to commerce as many as three first-round picks and three first-round swaps this offseason to alter that, however even that may be a comparatively short-term play given how outdated their two different stars at present are. Possibly there’s an aggressive one- or two-year title push to be made right here, however would that be worthwhile if it value the Lakers management of their subsequent handful of drafts?
The quick reply might be no, however the place precisely does that depart Redick? The roster would not have time, however the Lakers hardly ever afford it to their head coaches anyway. Whoever they rent to switch Ham might be their seventh full-time head coach since Phil Jackson retired in 2011. They fired Frank Vogel two years after a championship and Ham one yr after reaching the Western Convention finals. If the Lakers go all-in to win now, they entrust their fast destiny to a coach with no expertise. If they do not, they seemingly proceed on their extra gradual decline towards the underside of the West. Given the comparatively temporary tenures most Laker coaches can count on, neither scenario sounds splendid for Redick.
After which after all, there’s the subtext of that 2022 quote concerning the Lakers job. The Lakers roster would possibly look a bit extra like what most groups are fielding two years later, however the path they took to construct it was something however. Redick known as on them to behave like groups do within the fashionable NBA again in 2022. There may be nothing fashionable concerning the household enterprise construction this group nonetheless takes.
The Lakers concurrently have a entrance workplace that’s too massive and too small. They are not precisely identified for using a deep help employees or investing in scouting or analytics on the degree that different groups do. What they do have is simply too many cooks within the kitchen. Rob Pelinka nominally controls all basketball choices. At numerous factors over the previous a number of years, experiences have both said or hinted at affect from a wide range of different sources, some extra certified than others. It is by no means fairly clear if a Lakers determination is being made by Pelinka or Kurt Rambis. Or Linda Rambis. Or Tim Harris. Joey and Jesse Buss have developed a robust resume over the previous couple of years and have earned voices as properly.
Taking the Laker job means enjoying the Recreation of Thrones. Navigating palace intrigue should not be such an essential a part of a first-time coach’s job. The best workforce construction for any coach, a lot much less one with out expertise, is a rich however hands-off proprietor that defers to a robust, singular head of basketball operations who in flip entrusts on-court issues absolutely to the coach. The Lakers factor Redick wants is for Kurt Rambis to push him for extra DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard minutes.
This entrance workplace outlasted Luke Walton. It employed and fired each Vogel and Ham. If nothing else, the Laker entrance workplace has a penchant for self-preservation. They’ve the benefit of Laker ties Redick lacks. If push involves shove, would Jeanie Buss again him over Kobe Bryant’s former agent Pelinka, or a member of the Showtime Lakers in Rambis? Historical past has so far indicated that the reply is not any.
In Los Angeles, coaches have been disposable. The entrance workplace’s internal circle has not been. That is how Frank Vogel winds up getting scapegoated for a commerce that Pelinka made and James endorsed. Vogel had a championship ring to his title when he misplaced his job. It is exhausting to think about that Redick will if this factor goes south after just a few years. With out a sturdy resume as an assistant, potential future employers solely have the Lakers’ tenure to guage him off of. If it goes badly sufficient, that may be sufficient to kill a promising teaching profession earlier than it actually begins.
Possibly Redick can deal with the entire further nonsense that comes with teaching the Lakers. Possibly he cannot. It is too early to inform. But when he can discover a workforce that operates a bit extra like everyone else does, properly, that is most likely a path value contemplating.
Paradoxically, that actually hasn’t been the Pistons currently. They have been simply as responsible because the Lakers of getting too many cooks within the kitchen. Tellem seemingly has affect over basketball issues. Former basic supervisor Troy Weaver was theoretically the shot-caller. Monty Williams absolutely negotiated some measure of entrance workplace say when he satisfied the Pistons to offer him a historic contract. Job safety in Detroit is truthful to query as properly. Williams simply received fired after one yr, although in equity, Dwane Casey and Stan Van Gundy reigned for 9 mixed years earlier than him.
However that call highlights two key benefits the Pistons supply over the Lakers. The primary is monetary. The Lakers, by all rights, ought to be capable to spend much more on coaches than the Pistons do. But when the Lakers pursued Dan Hurley, they supplied him a six-year, $78.5 million pact that was value lower than what Detroit paid Williams. Now, the Pistons are paying Williams to go away. That is a uncommon monetary dedication, however it’s one Tom Gores can afford to make. Forbes estimates that he has a $9.1 billion web value. The funds of the Laker house owners are much more difficult. The Buss household doesn’t have one other main supply of wealth. Their cash comes primarily from the Lakers, and 6 siblings every personal a share of a stake as soon as held by Dr. Jerry Buss. The Lakers usher in a ton of income. They’re prepared to reinvest it in high-profile methods, like paying the luxurious tax and including stars. However they’ve by no means actually flexed their monetary muscle within the subtler ways in which are inclined to result in sustained profitable. Gores can do this, and he is proving it now.
Extra importantly, Gores has executed what the Lakers virtually by no means have. Step one in fixing any drawback is admitting that there’s one. Gores simply fired his head coach and basic supervisor as a result of the best way the Pistons operated was essentially unsound. Now, he is empowered a brand new head of basketball operations, hoping to repair that. Simply because it’s too early to attract any cheap conclusions about Redick, it’s about Langdon as properly. However a minimum of the Pistons appeared to know that change was wanted.
The Lakers haven’t, and it is fairly regarding when you think about how the previous decade or so has performed out. That they had the worst report within the NBA within the 5 years between Bryant tearing his Achilles and James transferring out West. They received a single championship largely as a result of James selected to play for them, a call that was most likely based mostly on excess of his perception within the workforce’s on-court prospects, and so they have proceeded to mismanage their roster fully within the 4 years since. At no level has there been substantive reporting suggesting that any key member of the entrance workplace that traded for Westbrook or saved hiring the improper coaches or supplied Dennis Schroder $84 million mere months earlier than he signed for lower than 10% of them has been in any actual hazard. The Lakers have by no means actually acknowledged simply how far behind the instances they are surely.
The rosters matter right here, however solely to some extent. One presents the prospect to win for a yr or two earlier than issues seemingly worsen. The opposite calls for a yr or two of shedding earlier than issues most likely get higher. In the end that is a matter of desire. Some coaches are genuinely higher matches for one than the opposite. A coach with no expertise might be higher suited to the “lose now, win later” path simply because that early shedding is a chance to study on the job, however once more, there are arguments on each side.
However an important a part of constructing the type of sustained winner Redick absolutely needs is stability, and the Laker circus simply would not supply a lot of it. There are appropriate ringleaders for it on the market, coaches with sufficient seasoning to know what to anticipate out of it. In the future, that may be Redick. For now, he is higher off beginning his teaching profession in a extra typical setting. That may imply Detroit now or it’d imply one other workforce later. It may cost him just a few early wins, however it’s the very best transfer for his teaching future.