Two weeks ago, during a pre-training camp press conference the Los Angeles Lakers held, coach JJ Redick said he’s confident that the Lakers will become a championship-level team this season. It was a bold declaration, considering that few, if any, outside of the organization feel the team currently has the talent to get to that level.
Through two preseason games, the Lakers are 1-1 despite not having Austin Reaves, Collin Sexton or Walker Kessler available for either of them. Redick made it clear that he’s serious about having that lofty a vision for his squad this season, per Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“I’ve watched these guys play,” Redick told The Athletic. “I’ve played against these guys, or coached against these guys, and I’ve also gotten to see (them) at our vet minicamp in Vegas (in mid-July). I got to see it all of August and September.”
He hasn’t exactly toned down that vision.
“You’ve got to get things out in the open,” he said of his choice to share this vision so publicly at the start. “We look at this every day. I don’t sugarcoat it.
“Those teams (like New York, San Antonio and Oklahoma City) deserve to be perceived that way, (but) I don’t care. It doesn’t matter — the perception of us. We’re on our own path. We are on our journey. That’s exciting to me.”
Los Angeles does have considerably more wing depth than it has had in a few years, and its bench should have more scoring punch than it has had in a while. Last season, its bench was next-to-last in the NBA in scoring, and it finished 20th in defensive rating.
The franchise set out this summer to aggressively remodel its roster, especially once it was notified that LeBron James would be leaving. It gave up a solid amount of draft capital for Kessler, an elite shot-blocker and rebounder, and it signed two-way wings Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle in free agency while snagging Collin Sexton, an explosive sixth-man scoring threat.
The Lakers could still use one more legitimate starting-level wing or forward, but right now, there seems to be quite a bit of cautious optimism across the franchise. Luka Doncic again got into fantastic shape this summer and is coming off an MVP-caliber season, and for the first time since he arrived in February 2025, they have a roster around him that can complement him fairly well.
This article originally appeared on Lakers Wire: JJ Redick reaffirms belief Lakers can become championship-level team