Brian Windhorst Highlights Starting Struggles JJ Redick Will Face in New Lakers HC Role

Adrian Wojnarowski announced yesterday that the Los Angeles Lakers have signed a four-year deal with JJ Redick to conclude their head coach hunt. After weeks of drama, the former NBA star has finally got his big break as the head coach of the Lakers. However, Brian Windhorst believes that getting the Lakers gig was the least of Redick’s problems as there’s still a lot of work left for him to do.

During his recent appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter, Windhorst detailed the struggles that Redick will have to deal with initially and how he can overcome them.

The 46-year-old said that Redick’s stint is already off to a great start because he has earned the respect of the biggest superstar on his team. Windy mentioned that having LeBron James by his side, rooting for his ideas, will help execute his plans well. In addition to that, Redick is really pumped to be put in this position and will take on the high-risk-high-reward challenge head-on.

According to Windhorst, “It’s [finding head coach] is not the most important thing the Lakers are going to do this month. What they do with their roster, how they address the holes in their team, that’s what’s gonna give JJ Redick a chance.”

“They’ve got to find some defensive wing players, otherwise, I don’t care who is coaching them, they’re gonna struggle,” the ESPN analyst added. He also pointed out that the Lakers need to be smart with their draft picks and choose players to bolster their defensive side.

Windy even compared Redick’s first stint at coaching with Joe Mazzulla’s gig with the Celtics. The 2024 Championship Coach took over the head coaching position in 2023 and is now an NBA champion mostly because he inherited a great roster.

So Rob Pelinka has to work his magic this summer to give JJ a fighting chance, per Windhorst. Otherwise they are doomed to repeat their previous failures, especially with LeBron James getting older with every passing season.

The Lakers’ defense requires major rebuilding. Now it’s on Redick to figure out with the front office, which players he wants on the team and how he will use them to the team’s advantage.

JJ Redick has a mammoth task ahead of him

Redick is the eighth head coach for the franchise since the great Phil Jackson left. The biggest disadvantage that he has in the majority’s opinion is that he has no prior coaching experience.

However, even if an experienced coach had filled up the vacant head coaching position in LA, things wouldn’t have been much different. The Lakers roster could barely take them through the play-in games last year.

Redick will probably have his laundry list ready before the free agency takes full flight. The decisions they make in the next few months will make or break them.