The 2023-24 Los Angeles Lakers underachieved to the point of frustration. Head coach Darvin Ham wasted a year of good health from Anthony Davis and LeBron James to build a monument against spacing. They were immensely talented, but profoundly rudderless. Outschemed at every turn, the Lakers were passive in everything they did and deserved their first-round loss to the Denver Nuggets. But under new head coach JJ Redick, this year's squad plays more inspired basketball, which is a step in the right direction.
The Lakers are off to a 3-0 start, with wins against three teams that finished ahead of them in the West last season. Each victory has allowed them an opportunity to flash different strengths. In the 110-103 season-opener win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the defense played perfectly, forcing Anthony Edwards to either take tough shots or dump it off to Rudy Gobert or Julius Randle in space. On offense, the Lakers fed Anthony Davis, who came into the season after a great run at the Olympics, looking slimmer and bouncier. Davis is too skilled to be stuck in the corner or set a bunch of meaningless screens. Instead, his team has prioritized getting him the ball in situations where he can make quick decisions.
Davis can be a high-level passer, even if he didn't get to show it off much last season. Coached by Ham, the Lakers ran a Stone Age offense: One guy would do one thing, and everyone else sort of stood around. What Redick has introduced is more in line with today's game but feels groundbreaking just by comparison. The Lakers move the ball quickly and decisively, with great spacing around the primary action. Redick has them running beautiful sets, and even when they lean more heavily into James creating out of simple pick-and-rolls, the team seems more dedicated to passing and moving then they ever did under Ham. After years of constipated ball movement, they're fun to watch again.
In Saturday's game against the Sacramento Kings, Davis struggled against his nemesis Domantas Sabonis. No matter. James took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points and finishing with a dominant 32-point triple-double in a 131-127 victory. The scoring barrage forced Sacramento to bend its defense toward James, and on the two most critical plays of a tremendous scoring run, he made the simple play: a pass out of a double team for a Davis three to extend the lead, and a dump-off for a Rui Hachimura dunk to seal the win.
It's remarkable that the Lakers feel like a new team despite only minor changes to the roster. Gabe Vincent has recovered from a knee injury, and rookie Dalton Knecht has looked confident and springy, but there was no total overhaul this summer. The logical next step is to look at the difference in coaching. Designing complicated plays and running a sophisticated offense is great, but it doesn't take a genius to determine that Anthony Davis should get the ball often. Doing the simple things right is a big part of coaching, and Redick is clearly very competent. As Kings head coach Mike Brown kept his best defender Keon Ellis on the bench last night, Redick gassed his players up and maintained pressure.
"We all bought into what he’s trying to build," Davis said after the win against the Timberwolves. "I like [Redick] a lot, and I like what he’s trying to build here, what he’s doing. Now it’s our job as players to kind of buy into what he’s preaching and to try to keep this going." Now that the new coach has introduced a functional offense to the Lakers, his next challenge will be getting five good minutes out of Bronny James.
