Lakers newsletter: Rob Pelinka says keeping same roster is a strength, not a weakness

Hey everyone, this is Dan Woike and welcome to the final Lakers Newsletter (of the 2024 offseason). Summer is so close to being officially over, autumn neutrals are replacing the summer linens and the Chicago Bears are no longer a viable playoff contender. It’s like the summer never even happened.

I spent my Wednesday afternoon at the Lakers’ El Segundo practice facility listening to general manager Rob Pelinka and new coach JJ Redick preview the upcoming training camp and, dear readers, I have to tell you, it left me longing for summer.

But unlike the players’ voluntary workouts inside the building, I had to show up a few days before training camp. Here are my biggest takeaways:

The case for continuity

Plenty of Lakers fans spent their summer cursing Pelinka for the Lakers’ inactivity. They added no new players in free agency. They made no trades. They did make one change — and it was a big one — in hiring Redick away from the ESPN No. 1 broadcast team and some of the most successful podcasts in basketball and giving him an opportunity to test his philosophies under the brightest spotlight.

I asked Pelinka about the summer Wednesday, about whether the decisions to stand pat put even more pressure on Redick to get it right. And Pelinka flipped the perceived weakness into a selling point for the upcoming year.

“JJ and I talk a lot about the roster and both of us in our partnership have a really strong belief in the 15 players on this team. … I think the inverse of change or overhaul is continuity. And I think continuity can be highly successful in sports. This is a core group that did make it to the Western Conference finals. We didn’t have Gabe Vincent or Vando [more on this] last year for whole seasons. If you add two players like that, there’s a delta there. I think there’s going to be internal growth. We’re going to see increased capacity, increased on-ball stuff from Austin Reaves, I think JJ can talk about that. There’s going to be growth from him and Rui. All the guys across the roster, there’s going to be internal improvement.

“So we have a high level of confidence in this group and we’re going to lean into the things we can control and lean into the continuity of this team.”

The terms for trading

It was also strange to hear Pelinka so openly state the required bar that needs clearance for the Lakers to trade both their 2029 and 2031 first-round picks, the two most movable assets the team has to use in a significant deal.

“Yes, we would do a trade with both picks if that would lead to sustained Lakers excellence,” he said. “We would also use one pick to make a marginal upgrade if we felt like it was the right thing to do.”

“Sustained Lakers excellence” is a nice guide to use when considering fake trades that surface now and again [sometimes even in this space]. Finding the kind of player who can truly ensure sustained excellence is a tough search and certainly not one the current market provided.

Could a Lakers fan who wanted the team to be aggressive look at a player like Dejounte Murray and say with confidence that acquiring him would lead to sustained excellence for the franchise? Impossible to say.

The admission that the Lakers would trade those picks is enough to offer deal-hungry fans some hope. The reality that the organization would need “sustained excellence” as an outcome should give people a sense of the likelihood that those picks get moved.

The Vanderbilt issue

The biggest piece of actual news Wednesday had to have been the revelation that Jarred Vanderbilt had surgical procedures on both of his feet after the conclusion of last season.

Pelinka said there’s optimism he could be cleared by the opener. However, that doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily be ready to affect the Lakers in the ways they’d like.

The offseason of rehab had to cut into Vanderbilt’s skill development, steps forward with his ball-handling and shooting necessary to turn the rangy forward from a nice-enough piece in the regular season into a consistent playoff contributor.

His offensive rebounding and defensive versatility are critical skills the Lakers can take advantage of, but the team needs him on the court. And it’s a safe bet that even if he’s healthy on opening night, he’s going to be behind.

The decisions to come

Redick spoke highly of Max Christie on multiple occasions, making the Lakers’ third-year wing an ideal replacement for Taurean Prince’s minutes from last year. Rookie Dalton Knecht, who Redick spoke about in his appearance on Zach Lowe’s “The Lowe Post” podcast, is another candidate, but as of today, Christie seems in line for a bigger role.

“I think to win now in today’s NBA, you need seven or eight players that really impact winning,” Redick said. “And that doesn’t mean seven or eight superstars that need the ball in their hands. Max Christie is gonna be a guy in his career who has a high-level impact on winning.”

Jalen Hood-Schifino has also created some positive buzz, but for him to get to show that this season, he’s going to have to overtake someone else on the roster. The same kind of battle for shots/usage could be brewing in the backcourt with Pelinka saying that the Lakers eye Austin Reaves for a more prominent role.

Redick, though, said he still expects D’Angelo Russell to be a big part of the team’s plan.

“Throughout the summer, he was probably the guy that I talked to the most of anyone on the roster. We had a number of conversations during free agency and throughout July and August and he’s going to have a major role on this team,” Redick said. “I think the thing that D-Lo and I have talked about a lot is just like, ‘Let’s put you in a position to have a career year.’ His mindset, his energy, the talk that he’s brought, the leadership that he’s brought when he’s been in the building, has been excellent.”

The sideline sickos

One huge takeaway is that there’s no mindset adjustment needed for Redick, who is pouring his love of basketball into his new job in the same way he poured it onto the court as a player. On the record, off the record, people throughout the organization have raved about the energy in the gym this past month.

“What we have tried to create is an energy and a vibe in the gym every day,” he said. “It’s like a perfect balance of, I would call it, ‘focused joy,’ if that makes sense. We’re grateful every day to be in this gym — the staff, the players. But it’s focused, it’s intentional, and it’s organized.”

That shared passion was a must when it came to how Redick put together his first staff.

“I had a goal, and Rob and I had a goal, of hiring a really diverse coaching staff in terms of experience and skillsets and we accomplished that. But the one thing that was a non-negotiable was that everyone we hired was a sicko, a basketball sicko,” he said. “And we’ve done that and our coaches meetings — you want to feel alive and you love basketball, come to one of our coaches meetings. You want to feel alive and you love basketball, come be in the gym when these guys are in here. It’s been awesome.”

Song of the Week

“Nothing Burns Like the Cold” by Snoh Aalegra feat. Vince Staples

We’re not to the winter yet, but the start of the NBA season does mean I have to pull my winter stuff out of storage around the house and get it ready. This smooth song about heartbreak gives me real Portishead vibes and warms up. Also, more music like this please.

Let’s chat

Any other questions you might have about this offseason? Players you want to have me dig in on? Let me know. Email me at [email protected] with your questions and we’ll answer as many as we can next week.

In case you missed it

Will the Lakers ever trade their top draft picks? Rob Pelinka shares their strategy