The Los Angeles Lakers and head coach JJ Redick agreed to a contract extension this offseason, team executive Rob Pelinka announced at a press conference on Thursday.
Redick, who led the Lakers to a 50-32 record in his first season with the team, proved to be everything Los Angeles wanted in their next head coach during the 2024-25 season. He developed a strong bond with LeBron James, and Redick has been instrumental in integrating Luka Doncic into Lakers culture since February's blockbuster trade.
After the Lakers extended Doncic on a $165 million contract, Pelinka turned his attention to rewarding Redick with a new, long-term deal.
“Getting an extension done with Luka, in addition (to) having LeBron choose another year with the Lakers as opposed to entering free agency — all positive, productive things for us as a basketball team,” Pelinka said on Thursday in Los Angeles. “In addition to that too, recently extending JJ's contract just to make it clear that he's the basketball leader in terms of our coaching and on-court performance.”
The 41-year-old head coach is who Pelinka and the Lakers organization believe in, and he will enter the new 2025-26 NBA season with expectations of competing for a championship.
This was a big offseason for Los Angeles.
Aside from signing Redick and Doncic to extensions, as well as seeing LeBron opt into his $52.6 million player option, the Lakers made moves in free agency by signing Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia.
After watching their trade to acquire Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets last season fall through, Pelinka and his staff made it a point of emphasis to get Redick an impactful, experienced center to play alongside Doncic and James.
That is why the Lakers secured a deal with Deandre Ayton once he was bought out of his contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Ayton, who shares an agent with Doncic, signed a two-year, $16.2 million deal that contains a player option for the 2026-27 season, giving him the ability to potentially test free agency again next year.
Smart found himself in a similar situation to Ayton after securing a buyout with the Washington Wizards. The former Defensive Player of the Year will hold a key role in Redick's rotations throughout the 2025-26 season.
While he has a small sample size on the sidelines, Redick has proven to be the leader that Los Angeles believes they need to compete for another championship. The young head coach has remained in constant contact with his two stars, James and Doncic, throughout the offseason, and his goal is to build off the success his team found last year.
“We are going to ask guys to be in championship shape, have championship communication, and (have) championship habits,” Redick said on Thursday. “Our guys this summer have been awesome. I know LeBron is always committed to those things. Luka has been committed, so to me, that's what it is.
“(Nick) Saban has this thing where it's ‘don't tell me, show me.' That's what we are asking of our players.”
The Lakers and Redick will begin their quest for a championship during the 2025-26 season on Opening Night at home against the Golden State Warriors in less than four weeks.
