Recently, the Los Angeles Lakers signed head coach JJ Redick to a contract extension after what was an up and down first year at the helm in Los Angeles. While the Lakers won a considerable amount of games this season and earned home court advantage in the first round, Redick's decision-making in their series vs the Minnesota Timberwolves came under fire, particularly in the second half of Game 4.
Still, Rob Pelinka and company clearly saw enough to feel comfortable moving forward, and recently, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania took to NBA Today to share that the extension would be for two additional years, taking Redick through the end of the 2029-30 season, per Hoopshype.
Of course, the more notable extension that the Lakers were involved with this year was the one that Luka Doncic signed earlier this offseason, keeping him in Los Angeles for three additional years.
An interesting offseason for the Lakers
Coming out of the Lakers' loss to the Timberwolves in the playoffs, it was clear that Los Angeles needed to add to two areas more than any other: frontcourt depth and perimeter defense. The Lakers attempted to address both issues in the buyout market by signing both Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart, each of whom have been starters on NBA Finals teams within the last four years.
The hope for the Lakers is that after a full offseason, Luka Doncic and LeBron James will have improved chemistry with one another in the upcoming season, and that Redick will be able to orchestrate some sets that bring the best out of both generational talents.
It will be interesting to see whether or not Redick opts to put Smart into the starting lineup, and what that would look like if he did. The backcourt of Doncic and Austin Reaves is not tenable from a defensive perspective, as last year's playoffs showed, but starting Smart next to them might make for a rather small starting five.
In any case, the Lakers have a few weeks to go before the season starts against the Golden State Warriors on October 21.
