From now until the start of the season, Corban Ford will be releasing offseason reviews for all 30 teams. These pieces will lay out the key losses and additions, along with an analysis describing some of the major moves and whether they positioned the team better for success or closer to disaster. Kicking this series off will be the Los Angeles Lakers. 

During an offseason that teased the possibility of solid change, the Los Angeles Lakers opted to do very little, hoping that continuity and their aging yet great star power could make up for their relative failure to improve the roster.

Key Losses

Taurean Prince (to Milwaukee), Spencer Dinwiddie (to Dallas), Darvin Ham (to Milwaukee)

Key Additions

JJ Redick (hired June 25th) Dalton Knecht (drafted #17th) Bronny James (drafted 55th) 

The first “loss” LA suffered was one they decided to initiate, as they fired embattled coach Darvin Ham. Ham started off his Lakers career strong, but over the course of his two seasons, would make questionable roster and strategic decisions that would cause confusion and distrust from both his team and its decision-makers.

When it came to actual roster-related decisions, the Lakers were presented with, for them, what would be the curse of continuity, quite simply due to the fact that GM Rob Pelinka attached player options to many of his offseason deals last season. Every player who had that option (Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood, Cam Reddish) picked it up, with only Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie left in the cold, but both would quickly find new landing spots, with Dinwiddie reuniting with an old home in Dallas, while Prince would reconnect with an old coach-Ham- in Milwaukee. 

In the way of additions, Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht could prove to be the steal of the 2024 draft class, with many mock drafts taking him far earlier than the 17th position that the Lakers were able to select him at and his ability to space the floor and generate from-scratch offensive creation will potentially juice up a Lakers second unit that had problems putting together any sort of consistency on that end. Bronny James attracted most of the attention off the court but figures to factor little on, at least for this season anyway. Look for Bronny to get plenty of reps in the G League and even more in the press.

As head coach, Tte highly regarded JJ Redick should prove to be an upgrade over Ham, and his willingness to be flexible with adjustments in game should help LA win quite a few games that were lost last season. In what was more of a retention than an addition, Max Christie was re-signed on a four year, $32 million dollar deal, and with his youth and tantalizing 3 and D potential, he could prove a boon for a Lakers squad that needs those qualities in the worst way.

Looking Ahead

There isn’t really a positive way to spin the lack of moves done by the Lakers, particularly in a summer that saw LeBron James win MVP of the Olympics and Anthony Davis stand out with his devastating two-way ability. As it stands now, Rob Pelinka, JJ Redick, and the rest of the Lakers brass must hope that James and Davis have their usual productive seasons with a limit of nagging injuries, that Dalton Knecht makes an impact immediately, and that players such as Gabe Vincent and Christian Wood have bounce-back years after subpar campaigns last season. Additionally, they must monitor the marketplace to see if they have the opportunity to cash in their three available first-round picks along with a solid mid-range salary (D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura) to get back a high-impact/high-upside player. That’s a lot of “ifs” for a team with two top 20 players on their roster, but it is the situation that the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in. Time will tell if they can better their lot over the course of the 2024-2025 season.