LAS VEGAS — This summer, the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t made a trade of consequence, added an impact player in free agency or drafted a lottery pick. After an unceremonious playoff exit, LeBron James and Anthony Davis will return from the Paris Olympics to launch next season with a new coach and two fresh-faced rookies but few other notable changes.
If the Lakers’ two stars were concerned by the franchise’s quiet offseason, they didn’t let on during the opening day of USA Basketball training camp Saturday. James bounced around the practice gym at UNLV, eager to team up with Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry as he pursues his third Olympic gold medal. Davis cracked jokes with reporters at a five-star hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, glad to be back with the national team for the first time since the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
With two months to lick their wounds following a demoralizing first-round loss to the Denver Nuggets, James and Davis welcomed their new coach, JJ Redick, a former NBA player and ESPN commentator. Redick replaced Darvin Ham, who was fired in May after going 90-74 (.549) during his two-year tenure.
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“I’m super excited to work with JJ and looking forward to the fall,” said James, who co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast with Redick this year. “We’re coming in with a new system. We have to learn the system and see what Coach Redick and the rest of the coaching staff wants us to do. My only mind-set is to come back and be ready to work, no matter who is there.”
Redick plans to shift some of the offensive burden from the 39-year-old James to the 31-year-old Davis and to put greater emphasis on player development. Davis said he had a “great conversation” with Redick before the first-time coach was hired, though he acknowledged “it’s going to take time” for the Lakers to jell.
“[Redick] talked about me being the hub of the offense,” Davis said. “That will be different. We won’t know everything until [training] camp when we’re able to get on the floor. We want LeBron to shoot more threes. [Redick] wants to play fast and defend. From what he was telling me, I’m in total agreeance with what he has planned for us. … The goal at the end of the day is still to win a championship. You can’t skip steps.”
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The Lakers were linked to several notable players in trade rumors and free agency — including Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan, James Harden and Jonas Valanciunas — but no deals materialized.
Instead, James re-signed with the Lakers on a two-year, $101 million deal, and guard D’Angelo Russell picked up his $18.7 million player option. As such, Los Angeles is on track to return nine of its 10 most-used players from last season. Taurean Prince, a veteran forward who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, is the only exception.
Dalton Knecht, a first-round pick out of Tennessee, and Bronny James, a second-round pick from the University of Southern California and the 19-year-old son of LeBron James, should be the primary focus of Redick’s developmental plans.
The rookies made their summer league debuts for the Lakers in a 108-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings at the California Classic on Saturday in San Francisco. Knecht, the reigning SEC player of the year, scored 12 points on 3-for-12 shooting in 26 minutes. James had four points, two rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes.
LeBron James said it was “a dream come true” to form the NBA’s first father-son duo with Bronny James, adding that he was still at “a loss for words” after his son suffered sudden cardiac arrest at a USC workout less than a year before the Lakers made him the No. 55 pick in the draft.
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“It doesn’t matter if [Bronny] plays well or if he doesn’t play well [this summer],” LeBron James said. “I just want him to continue to grow in practices, film sessions and individual workouts. You can’t take anything stat-wise from the California Classic or [Las Vegas] Summer League and bring it once the season starts. He missed a big part of the season because of the [cardiac] incident less than a year ago. He’s behind as far as where he would have been if he’d played a full [freshman] season. He’s getting better and better every day.”
LeBron James added that he had scouted Knecht throughout last season as Tennessee advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. Knecht, 23, averaged a team-high 21.7 points last season.
“Dalton, besides Bronny, was my favorite player in college basketball,” James said. “I liked his ability to shoot the ball, his athleticism, his height and his demeanor. I always felt his game would translate to the NBA. I did not think he would fall to [the 17th pick] at all. I didn’t think we’d have an opportunity to get him. I’m glad he did.”
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Though Bronny James spent much of his freshman season coming off the bench, Summer League billboards in Las Vegas featured him prominently alongside Victor Wembanyama, the reigning rookie of the year, and Alex Sarr, this year’s No. 2 pick by the Washington Wizards. With the NBA fueling the hype and the Lakers’ roster returning mostly unchanged, Bronny James appears destined to garner more attention than any other recent second-round pick.
“It’s never happened in basketball,” Davis said of the James duo. “It’s a cool experience to happen on our team and see [Bronny] grow. It’s going to be great. He’s going to get better and grow, especially in a system where JJ likes to develop guys.”
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