A new era for the Los Angeles Lakers has begun after the introduction of their 29th head coach JJ Redick in a press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center. After parting ways with Darvin Ham over two months ago, L.A. looked for an innovative mind to build a program for years to come.
However, Redick now needs to focus to turning this team around to a championship contender, which is a tall task for a first-time head coach. General manager Rob Pelinka will also need to explore possible trades to fit Redick’s philosophies to compete in a compact Western Conference.
One name that could be on the move is Rui Hachimura, although it seems that Redick has some advice for the forward to thrive in L.A. At his introductory press conference, the former 15-year veteran discussed his desire for Hachimura to shoot more 3-pointers and crash the offensive glass with his 6’8″ frame.
“I thought he had a fantastic year last year,” Redick said. “One of the things that maybe I should have mentioned this to Ramona’s question, but beyond just the Lakers and LeBron and Anthony Davis, I’m excited about some of the younger guys on this roster and helping them. I had great conversations this weekend, two that I loved were my conversations with Austin and my conversation with Rui. I think for him in terms of how I envision him on this team, I want him shooting more 3s. So, that’s a big part of it. I brought up the offensive rebounding, I think he can really become an elite offensive rebounder.
“As we build out our offensive system and how we’re going to play, when we incorporate moving and cutting, Rui can be an excellent cutter and part of that is because we’re going to manipulate screening angles, he’s going to get mismatches and he can really score the basket if he has smaller players on him.”
Rebounding, in particular, is something that Hachimura needs to emphasize this summer as he only averaged 4.3 per game last season. On the other hand, his 3-point shooting was remarkable at 42.2% on 3.4 attempts, so it makes sense that Redick wants him to shoot more.
Assuming the 26-year-old does not get moved this offseason, if he can hone in on those two areas, it could make him a valuable piece in Redick’s offensive system for the Lakers.
