Speaking to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Lakers head coach JJ Redick followed up on a pair of comments he made during his initial pre-camp media session in September. At the time, Redick said he was confident in the Lakers’ ability to develop into a “championship-level” team this season and that he felt for the first time since arriving in Los Angeles “like the pieces actually fit together.”
“When I said the pieces fit,” Redick said, clarifying the latter remark, “that’s more about having depth, having multiple ball-handlers besides Luka (Doncic) and AR (Austin Reaves), having more shooting, more volume shooting, having an elite rim protector — the combination of all those pieces. And it’s having great wing defenders. I really believe in our wing group. I believe in their defense. I believe in their ability to make open threes.”
As for Redick’s assertion that the Lakers will become a championship-caliber team in 2026/27, Amick notes that rival scouts don’t necessarily agree with that assessment. The Lakers’ head coach could’ve offered a more conservative response when asked about his expectations for his team, but he insisted to Amick that he’s bullish on the roster Rob Pelinka and the front office put together this summer.
“I’ve watched these guys play,” Redick said. “I’ve played against these guys, or coached against these guys, and I’ve also gotten to see (them) at our vet mini-camp in Vegas (in mid-July). I got to see it all of August and September.”
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Walker Kessler (finger) and Collin Sexton (undisclosed lower body injury) have yet to make their Lakers debuts, but Redick expressed confidence on Thursday that Kessler will play in at least one of the team’s two remaining preseason games and said he’s not worried about Sexton’s availability for the October 21 regular season opener, per Benjamin Royer of the Southern California News Group.
Marc J. Spears of Andscape and Dan Woike of The Athletic explore how Quentin Grimes ended up signing with the Lakers during the 2026 offseason, three years after he spent time in the Hamptons working out with Redick. The Lakers’ head coach was excited to add a wing he describes as an “elite two-way player,” per Woike. “I’m very confident in him as a scorer and a shooter, and in his ability to play off Austin and Luka on that end, “ Redick said. “And then he’s proven on certain nights if there’s guys out, he can go get 20, 25 points. It’s really the defensive end where we’re going to really challenge him, and he’s been a very receptive and wants to embrace that.”
As Ben Horney of Front Office Sports writes, a legal filing related to the Buss family dispute has revealed details about the agreement Mark Walter and Jeanie Buss reached in 2025 to keep Jeanie in the role of team governor going forward. Walter agreed to take all actions “reasonably required or requested by Jeanie” to keep her in that position over the next five years as long as she “or her affiliated entities” maintained a 15% stake in the franchise. There’s also language that would allow her to become alternate governor after five years as long as she “or her affiliated entities” still own at least 5% of the team. Jeanie is currently mired in a legal battle with her five siblings, who want to sell the family’s remaining stake in the Lakers.
Chris Mannix of SI.com shares an in-depth feature story on Doncic, providing some behind-the-scenes details on the Lakers star’s offseason in Slovenia.