As the Los Angeles Lakers settle into their new reality, one of the most fascinating on-court developments to watch is how new superstar addition Luka Doncic meshes with LeBron James. Both are ball-dominant point forwards with different methods of ripping defenses apart but match each other in skill when it comes to finding the open man. There will be highlights aplenty with two talents of this caliber teaming up, of course, but how the Lakers choose to divvy up possessions will in many ways define how the offense is run.
After the Lakers stared down old demons and took down their familiar playoff foe in the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, head coach JJ Redick shared some light on how Los Angeles plans to split up possessions. What he said was both surprising and revealing.
"I think Luka needs to be the guy that controls the offense," the head coach stated, per The Athletic's Jovan Buha. "And (LeBron James) and (Austin Reaves), because we’re gonna stagger everybody, they’re gonna have their times to be on the ball. But all three of those guys are very intelligent basketball players, and we can create mismatches. We can get teams in the blender."
Redick's strategy makes plenty of basketball sense. Doncic is a top-five player in the NBA offensively. James is still dangerous but not quite at that level on an every night basis anymore and Reaves is simply a tier below.
But even so—his open acknowledgement that the plan is to take the ball out of James's hands is surprising to hear. This is LeBron James, after all. He's won championships when he has other elite playmakers by his side but at every juncture he was still the primary orchestrator of what his team was trying to do offensively. Even now at 40 years old you'd be hard-pressed to find many players better-suited to run an offense than James.
Doncic, of course, is one of those few players. Redick clearly recognizes that and isn't afraid to tell everybody he wants the ball in his hands more than anybody else. Even LeBron. The tides are turning in Los Angeles.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as JJ Redick Makes Surprising Statement on Who Should Control Lakers' Offense.
