Anthony Davis is clearly the star of the Lakers and JJ Redick has a vision for how he’d like to use him next season.
JJ Redick was officially announced as the Lakers' 29th head coach on Monday. He won his press conference by acknowledging his inexperience as a coach, ensuring fans he was aligned with Rob Pelinka and discussing ways to improve with the players already on the roster.
While he talked about the young players and the stars, Redick went in-depth on ways he envisioned working with Anthony Davis, who, at this point, appears to be the most important player on the Lakers.
“With any player, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, any on the roster, I can have a vision for how I want to use them but there has to be buy-in and collaboration,” Redick said. “I can sit up here and tell you how I would like for them to play, but if there’s no buy-in, then it doesn’t really matter.
“So, I think part of the next two months – and I know those guys are going to be busy with Team USA – is just having conversations. Anthony and I already had a conversation a week ago about some ideas both offensively and defensively. I think both of us felt really comfortable going forward with that sort of as the base starting point of how he’s going to play on this team,” he continued. “One of the things I brought up with him is just the idea of him as a hub. There’s a bunch of guys at the five position in the NBA that sort of operate in that way. I don’t know that he’s been used in that way and maximize all of us abilities.”
The Lakers made Anthony Davis a "significant part" of the coaching search and Redick obviously confirmed the report he had a phone call with AD after his interview.
However, Redick's desire to make Davis the focal point is the biggest takeaway from these comments. Redick mentioned other bigs being used this way and one has to think players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić are prime examples.
All three bigs had the ball in their hands much more than Davis did and averaged more points and attempted more shots than the Lakers big.
If Redick can put AD in a position to be the center of the offense and take more shot attempts, it would eliminate one of the biggest frustrations fans have of Davis which is that he can sometimes get lackadaisical and disappear offensively.
The Lakers view AD as the franchise, and his production last season of 24.7 points and 12.6 rebounds matches this label. Redick has a lot of work ahead of him to help the Lakers earn another title and his best shot at getting that done will involve getting the most out of Davis.
It's good that he's thinking of this first, but as Redick acknowledges, vision is one thing; execution is another entirely.
We know what Davis can be on his best day. It'll be between him and Redick to ensure we get that more consistently offensively during the 2024-25 season.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
