The banners above the practice court, the names of legends on the wall and, most importantly, the trophies in Jeanie Buss’s window in the Lakers practice facility tell the story of the team’s past.
As the organization approaches the start of the 2024-25 season, general manager Rob Pelinka repeated it.
Excellence is the standard that helped build the Lakers into one of the league’s best franchises, and it remains the goal, Pelinka said Wednesday. But inconsistencies around LeBron James since the team signed him have left the Lakers chasing sustainable success.
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“I think everybody in this building is aware of the fact that he’s almost 40 years old,” Lakers first-year coach JJ Redick said of James, who has been back with the team training for the past two weeks after spending the summer. leading the United States to an Olympic gold medal.
James’ presence and ability continue to require the Lakers to be aggressive. His age and injury concerns for him and Anthony Davis require the team to be more conservative in how they use their draft capital.
Pelinka laid out the trade rules he operates by when it comes to the team’s ability to trade its 2029 and 2031 first-round picks — the most useful pieces in its active locker.
“I think the philosophy that JJ and I agree on is that we want to build sustainable Lakers excellence,” Pelinka said. “… Yes, we would trade both picks if it led to continued Laker excellence. We would also use one pick to make a marginal upgrade if we felt it was the right thing to do. We looked long and hard and a lot worked to see if there were ways to increase the total roster this offseason and the right move didn’t present itself.”
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The Lakers’ quest for roster improvement this summer has largely come up empty. The team drafted rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny Jamesbut were shut out of free agency and trades due to a roster that was already at capacity.
With James entering his 22nd season and coming off a successful run at the Olympics, Redick said the Lakers have a plan to ease him into the season early.
“But when we watch the pickup games, he goes all out,” Redick said of James. “If he goes on the court, he will go. So somehow, sometimes we have to save him from himself, whether that’s in training camp, practices during the season.”
One of those on-court moments came this week when James scored on his rookie son in a scrimmage. Redick acknowledged that the team will have some role in how the two make history this season when they become the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA.
“We have nothing planned, per se, in terms of commitment to do it this way. We’ve obviously talked about it as a staff and we’ve gone into some detail about what that might look like,” Redick said. “But we committed to nothing. And obviously, there’s a discussion to be had after we’re all together with Bronny and LeBron as well.”
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The Lakers are still trying to thread a very tight needle’s eye where the team can be responsible for its future while continuing to compete for titles with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on the roster.
“I think for any team to do well, you have to have good health and luck and those things are variables you can’t control. But with those, we have a lot of faith in those 15 players [on the roster],” Pelinka said. “I think the inverse of change or overhaul is continuity. And I think continuity can be very successful in sports. This is a core group that made it to the Western Conference finals.”
The team will not have Jarred Vanderbilt or Christian Wood at the start of training camp due to offseason operations. Wood, who struggled in a limited role a year ago, underwent his second surgery on his left knee this calendar year. He is due for re-evaluation in six weeks. And Vanderbilt, who played just 29 games a year ago, underwent surgeries on each of his feet after the season ended.
“We have a lot of optimism that when the real games start, he’ll be available,” Pelinka said of Vanderbilt.
Gabe Vincent, who dealt with knee injuries a season ago, is cleared for the start of camp.
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Redick, of course, is the change the Lakers can count on to impact them the most.
“I would say what we’ve tried to create is an energy and an atmosphere in the gym every day. It’s like a perfect balance of, I would call it, ‘focused joy,’ if that makes sense,” Redick said of voluntary summer workouts. “We’re grateful every day to be in this gym — the staff, the players. But it’s focused, it’s intentional, and it’s organized.”
As for the court specifications, Redick and Pelinka said the team would like to improve the volume of offensive rebounds and three-point shots by creating more opportunities for Austin Reaves to work on the ball. Redick also said he is encouraged by young players like Max Christie and last year’s first-round pick Jalen Hood-Schifino.
“These kids have improved significantly over the last two months,” Redick said. “So really excited to see them compete in training camp and preseason.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
