The Lakers’ offense has the kind of firepower that can make any night messy for an opponent. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves give Los Angeles two reliable engines, and that much is not in question. What still hangs over this team is whether the rest of the roster can hold up on the other end well enough to match that scoring.
JJ Redick sounded more optimistic about that part of the picture on Tuesday than he did at the start of camp. Early on, he viewed the Lakers as a group that could maybe settle in around league average defensively. That bar has moved.
“From early in September, and even kind of early training camp-ish, maybe before we played our first game, I thought we could potentially be, like, around an average defense, but I think our standards for that have elevated,” Redick said on Tuesday. “We have a chance to be a good defense, and there are certain things we want to get better at.
But the areas of focus for us - transition defense, defensive rebounding - we weren’t good [during preseason]. So if we get better at that, I think we’ll have a chance to be a pretty good defense, and that’s exciting.”
That shift matters because the Lakers have spent recent seasons trying to patch up a defense that used to be a strength. Redick pointed to the preseason as the latest reminder of where the soft spots still are, with transition defense and defensive rebounding sitting at the center of the problem. Those are fixable areas, but not instant ones.
The roster construction also tells the story. The Lakers were a dominant defensive group during their 2020 title run, but losing Anthony Davis changed the whole identity of the team.
Since then, Rob Pelinka has kept cycling through big men in search of the right answer. This time, the front office has landed on former Jazz center Walker Kessler, who has embraced his role.
Kessler’s numbers suggest why the Lakers believe he can matter. He has career averages of 9.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 70.3%. That kind of production gives Los Angeles a real chance to improve in the paint, but he cannot carry the load alone.
The Lakers will need help from others too, including Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, Kevon Looney, and Matisse Thybulle, if they want to handle stronger Western Conference opponents. The offense should keep them in plenty of games. The bigger question is whether the defense can rise enough to do more than just survive them.
For Redick, that is the real challenge heading into the opener: pushing the group beyond simply being respectable. If the Lakers can tighten up the defensive details he called out, they may have a chance to be more dangerous than expected.
In Other News...
Clippers Enter First Lakers Showdown With A Problem They Can't Hide
The first Lakers-Clippers meeting of the season arrives with both sides carrying a familiar early-season burden: the injury report. The Lakers have already ruled out Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero, while Jake LaRavia remains questionable, but the bigger news on their side is that Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are both available for a matchup that always draws extra attention in Los Angeles.
The Clippers, meanwhile, are heading into tomorrow night with a longer list of absences that will shape how they can match up across the floor. Bradley Beal, Brandon Ingram, Jordan Miller, Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Max Strus are all out, leaving them with some real roster questions before the teams even tip off. For a rivalry game that is supposed to provide an early read on the season, the missing bodies may end up being part of the story right away. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Let A Former First Round Pick Slip Into A Contenders Plans
Dalton Knechts brief run in Los Angeles has already become one of the more notable roster twists around the Lakers this season. The former first-round pick was waived before the regular season trade deadline after a potential deal never came together, and head coach JJ Redick pointed to changes in the roster and the teams evolving needs as part of the reason his minutes had faded.
Now the focus has shifted to what comes next for Knecht, and the Lakers may not be the only team watching closely. Several clubs have already shown interest in signing him, including the Knicks, with a two-way contract emerging as a possible landing spot. For a player who entered the season with promise and then saw his role shrink, the next move could come quickly, and it will say plenty about how the rest of the league still values him. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Center Search Keeps Pulling Mavericks Into An Uncomfortable Debate
The Lakers have already added Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney to shore up their center rotation, but the search for more depth at the position is still going. Los Angeles has explored trade discussions for Jericho Sims and continues to monitor the market for additional big men, a sign that the front office is still trying to find the right mix behind its current options.
One name that keeps coming up in broader roster chatter is PJ Washington, whose fit has been discussed as a way to complement what the Lakers have in place. For now, the center conversation is less about a finished answer than about how far the team wants to go in reshaping that part of the roster, and whether the next move comes from a trade or from a market that is still being watched closely. [Read more 🡒]