PALM DESERT, Calif. — The first possession of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124-107 preseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves offered a glimpse of the type of movement, screening and shooting new coach JJ Redick values in his offense.
The Lakers opened the game by running a Horns set — with D’Angelo Russell dribbling just past half court, Jaxson Hayes and Max Christie in the corners, and Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves near the elbows — in which Hachimura set a cross screen for Reaves, who shook open, caught a pass from Russell in a triple-threat position and immediately threw a baseball-style arching skip pass to Hayes in the left corner.
Hayes took a dribble before handing the ball back to Russell, who had received a screen from Hachimura to come toward the ball. Russell took one dribble inside the arc and then fired a pass back to Hachimura, who had relocated, for a 3-point attempt.
Hachimura missed the look, but the process behind the possession was successful. Four of the five players on the floor touched the ball within five seconds. Hachimura set two screens and was rewarded with a shot. That shot, per Redick’s preference, was also a 3-pointer.
JJ’s first preseason play for the Lakers – stealing Dan Hurley’s “Skip” concept out of Horns. pic.twitter.com/uYNiUuM19m
— Coach Gibson Pyper (@HalfCourtHoops) October 5, 2024
It’s difficult to glean much from a preseason game, let alone a preseason game that LeBron James and Anthony Davis both missed. The Lakers’ offense will look much different on Sunday if James and/or Davis plays against the Phoenix Suns. Here’s some observations from the Lakers’ first preseason game.
As Bronny James walked onto the floor out of the quarter break in between the first and second quarters, a buzz spread across Acrisure Arena. It was similar to the reactions Bronny got in San Francisco at the California Classic and in Las Vegas at summer league. He’s the most famous rookie in the NBA — and fans treat him that way.
On his first defensive possession, Bronny over-rotated off of Rob Dillingham, allowing his rookie foe to drill a semi-contested 3-pointer off a swing pass. On his first offensive possession, Bronny struggled to handle both ball pressure and to pass to Russell, with the ball being tipped out of bounds. In the next sequence, Bronny threw the ball away trying to find Russell again.
Instead of dropping his head or dipping his shoulders, Bronny chased down Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker and swatted his shot from behind. Those are the types of plays Bronny needs to make more of, leveraging his instincts and athleticism defensively.
“He can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique and I think can turn into a really disruptive defender,” Redick said. “That manifested itself.”
Bronny led the Lakers with a game-high three blocks. Overall, he scored two points on 1-of-6 shooting and added one rebound and one assist in 16 minutes. Bronny scored his lone bucket with 56.2 seconds left, a driving layup that was met with a warm reception from the pro-Lakers Palm Springs crowd.
To the basket, Bronny! 💪 https://t.co/W5PfwxfQMj pic.twitter.com/ouAowrrlDb
— NBA (@NBA) October 5, 2024
He remains raw offensively. His handle isn’t good enough to handle the ball full-court against NBA-level pressure, he’s still fine-tuning his shot and he’s too small to finish over the trees in the paint. His offensive role at the NBA level, and even the G League level, remains unclear.
But, as Redick has said, Bronny is “test case No. 1” for the Lakers, and it’s clearly a work in progress.
“He’s had some really good days in August and September,” Redick said. “He’s had three really good days this week. We’re really happy with his progress.”
Christie appears ready for a large role
Christie was arguably the Lakers’ most impactful player on Friday, which is high praise considering starters Reaves, Russell and Hachimura all played.
Christie, the 21-year-old wing that the Lakers invested in this offseason with a four-year, $32 million bet on his potential, was everywhere, posting 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks in a game-high 34 minutes.
After spending the past two months in the gym with Lakers coaches and player development staffers, Christie is ready to showcase his growth.
“Tonight was kind of a good culmination of that,” Christie said. “It was good to really see the first game of the season to see things go my way.”
Redick, who has bonded with Christie this summer over their analytical approach to the game and development, had high praise for the third-year player postgame.
“Max is an old soul,” Redick said. “He’s wise and he’s mature and he takes this very seriously. And I really appreciate that about him. So it’s not a surprise to me that in a game like this that he plays a lot of minutes, he doesn’t hang his head, he just keeps competing. He’s gonna be very valuable for us this year.”
Christie’s athleticism popped on both sides of the ball. He dunked on a rotating Wolves big. He thwarted multiple shots in the paint. He glided past Wolves players for contested defensive rebounds. He just made play after play.
The Lakers desperately need better two-way play, and Christie might be the only player on the roster capable of affecting both ends the way he can (outside of James and Davis, of course). Redick is already angling to deploy Christie as one of the team’s primary stoppers.
“He’s asked me to be kind of that dog on defense, pick up full-court,” Christie. “I tried to do a little bit of that tonight. There’s a comfort level that I’m going to get a little bit more comfortable with. I haven’t really done that a lot in my career.”
Christie has the upside to be the Lakers’ best bench player — and to eventually push Russell and Hachimura for a spot next to James, Davis and Reaves in closing lineups. He should easily play 25 minutes per night.
Dalton Knecht ahead of schedule
Knecht, the 23-year-old rookie wing that the Lakers drafted with the No. 17 pick, looked more like a five-year veteran than a first-timer.
Knecht’s three-level scoring ability — he’s an underrated finisher – was on full display. He tied Reaves with a team-leading 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting, adding three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Knecht has a knack for finding slivers of space within an opposing defense. He had two cuts for dunks, including a poster that prompted the loudest reaction from the Lakers bench.
Similar to Christie, Knecht fills a valuable role that arguably no other Laker can replicate: He’s a movement shooter and scorer with a quick release and the athleticism to finish over unsuspecting defenders.
“I thought he did a really good job of being aggressive and taking the shots that we want him to take,” Redick said.
Most important of all, Knecht competed defensively, which remains the primary knock on him. A key part of the reason why he fell out of the lottery was concerns over his defensive ability. Those worries proved valid at summer league, as Knecht was a liability who struggled to remain focused and engaged.
But against the Timberwolves, he largely stayed within the confines of the team scheme, and did his best to rotate, contest and box out. As long as he tries defensively, and continues to thrive offensively, he should carve out a role in the rotation.
“He really competed on the defensive end,” Redick said. “And I talked with him about this, that’s all I’m asking him to do. If he’s gonna play on this team and play minutes and be in the rotation this year, he knows this, he’s gotta compete defensively.
Shooting the 3
One point of emphasis for the Lakers early in the season has been increasing their 3-point volume. On Friday, five of their first seven shot attempts were 3s. It marks a strategic shift for the Lakers, who have ranked in the bottom 10 in 3-point attempts in four of five seasons with James and Davis.
The Lakers finished the game 10-of-32 from deep (31.3 percent).
“I think all those shots were good looks and he encourages that obviously,” Reaves said. “Threes and paint 2s. Kinda want to get away from the midrange. Obviously, there’s a time and place to shoot those. But I think it’s just the schemes that we’ve talked about offensively, the shots that we want to get. I feel like we got a lot of them. We just didn’t make a lot of ’em.”
Lakers players have embraced the mindset shift, and are confident that it’s going to lead to a more efficient offense in the long run.
“I’m a big process over outcome guy so I think as a team, the process that we had was to get more 3s up and we did,” Christie said. “And in the future, those will go through the basket.”
(Photo of Bronny James: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images))
