JJ Redick has an affinity for analytics, and he plans to bank on a proven formula in his first season as the head coach of the Lakers.
In a recent interview with ESPN's "The Lowe Post" podcast, Redick confirmed that he would start the five-man Lakers lineup that enjoyed the most success together last season — Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell.
"Yeah. It will be the starting five that went 23-10 last year," Redick confirmed.
Redick's predecessor, Darvin Ham, regularly tinkered with that five-man lineup, especially at the start of last season when he brought Hachimura off the bench. As the season progressed, he adopted a similar strategy with Reaves and Russell and didn't utilize the latter as a permanent starter until the new year.
Many felt Ham's excessive lineup changes threw off the Lakers' rhythm and worked to the detriment of the only two permanent starters, James and Davis. To make matters worse, Ham was publicly criticized by his players, specifically Davis and Russell, for not allowing the team to build a semblance of continuity.
While Redick plans to give the five-man lineup a longer rope, the first-year coach will experiment with his offensive schemes, specifically urging Davis and Hachimura to shoot more threes.
"In terms of what the offense looks like, there will be a decent amount of [ball] movement," Redick said. "The shot profile will hopefully improve [from last season]. We've talked about ways to create more paint touches. We've also talked about ways to shoot more threes. We've talked about some of the leeway that you have to give certain players with their mid-range shots, whether that's in the post or isolation."
Redick also plans to "emphasize offensive rebounding" and "corner crashes" as he feels those traits will help the Lakers "create some margins" against high-octane offenses that shoot a lot of threes. Last year, the Lakers ranked No. 28 in three-point attempts, a number Redick is determined to improve.
Fans will get a glimpse at Redick's new-look Lakers during a preseason game against the Timberwolves on Oct. 4. Redick's staff plans to use the preseason and training camp to iron out offensive and defensive philosophies ahead of opening night on Oct. 22.
