The first full day of practice for the Lakers was, according to all involved, a very well-executed, efficiently run operation. A schedule was presented, it was adhered to. There was, by all accounts, purpose. And this was on the heels of a decision to hold a team dinner earlier this week to discuss expectations and lay out principles, rather than using practice time or extending the obligations players have during the day.

In some ways, these are minor details - though clearly players are interested in pointing out the contrasts between Redick and his predecessor, when it comes to attention to detail and efficiency.

These are all critical mechanisms for Redick, a first time coach at any level, to establish credibility with his players, who (despite early endorsements) are almost certainly reserving a little bit of judgment for a guy who has never coached at any professional level. These early days are more important for Redick than they might be for any other coach in the league, even the other guys who are new with their teams.

So far, it seems, so good. So how is Redick going to make sure his attention to detail doesn't become overwhelming for players, to where the forest gets lost for the trees?

Meanwhile, a lot of high praise early for Max Christie... is he ready to step up and fill the role the Lakers are clearly expecting him to play? He's one of the nine guys Redick plans to use in his rotation. But it'll likely be nine, and not more. At least for now.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: JJ Redick is running an efficient operation!

SEGMENT 2: Redick is planning a nine man rotation.

SEGMENT 3: Is Christie Ready?

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Monday was Media Day across the NBA, and in El Segundo there where plenty of open questions that were addressed, at least a little, as every Lakers player took a turn at the podium to answer questions.

A few themes emerged...

LeBron James said his Olympic experience was valuable on multiple fronts. First, it reminded him of the feeling that comes with playing truly consequential games for ultimate prizes, and that was something he clearly enjoyed. From there, James said the experience of playing with the Team USA crew, including a lot of young players like Anthony Edwards, was an invigorating experience, one that's continued moving into camp as he has the chance to practice with his son. Put it all together, and the whole deal was a reminder not just that he could still play, but that he has a lot -- a lot -- left in the tank. This isn't a guy who thinks he'll need to hang it up anytime soon, if he doesn't want to.

Anthony Davis, meanwhile, talked about the potential for internal improvement with these Lakers, and the capacity to be better than people might expect. He too seemed to appreciate what it meant to play with Team USA and have the type of impact he did. It's clear, as well, that while he fully believes he'll never win a Defensive Player of the Year award, he wants to make the slight so obvious that the voters will cast their ballots with a sense of real shame.

D'Angelo Russell? He's a huge fan of JJ Redick, and at the risk of speculating beyond his words... is a bigger fan than he was of Darvin Ham. An appreciation of Redick in these early days was a common theme among the players. They praised his communication, organization and attention to detail, and while the intention wasn't explicitly to disparage the previous regime, it's easy to be left with the impression that a few of the players at least didn't mind of that's where the mind of the listener went.

Russell said this year he's really hoping to tighten things up and gain the trust of Redick, which has to happen on the defensive end first and foremost. That means paying attention to detail, and more broadly making sure that he's always a positive influence and providing constructive energy, something he admitted hasn't always been the case through his career.

And the injuries! Christian Wood? Very optimistic! Jarred Vanderbilt? Seemed... less so.

Plenty to highlight on a busy day for the Lakers.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers kick off the season with Media Day, and LeBron says he's got a lot left.

SEGMENT 2: Good early reviews for Redick.

SEGMENT 3: Candid D'Lo...

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It's Media Day in El Segundo, which means the official start of the 2024-25 season.

So what is this year going to bring? Well, it starts with a massive trade that could shake up the Western Conference, as Minnesota is planning to send Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for forward and old friend Julius Randle along with guard Dante DiVincenzo. For a team like Minnesota, that made a Western Conference Finals for the first time in the last 63 years, this sort of deal has the potential to make them worse. And anything that makes a conference rival worse helps the Lakers, even if it's just for that opening night matchup. The Lakers need all the help they can get to get off to a strong start, and a Wolves team playing the getting-to-know-you game that early in the year could help LA.

Meanwhile, the minute Towns was sent (or will be, once it's official) to New York, that put speculation out there that maybe Mitchell Robinson, their incumbant (and injured) center might be available. Would it make sense for the Lakers to kick the tires, even if he's going to be out until December, at the earliest?

On paper, it's a nice fit... but what about the practical issues a trade presents?

The Lakers do, after all, need a big body. They admitted as much, at least after JJ Redick tried to talk around it last week meeting the media.

So what comes next?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: A blockbuster in the West. How does it impact the Lakers?

SEGMENT 2: Could the Lakers swing a deal for Robinson?

SEGMENT 3: Redick talks C, then the Lakers backtrack.

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Wednesday, the new Lakers season unofficially began - the official kickoff comes Monday with Media Day - with a press conference featuring GM Rob Pelinka and new Lakers coach JJ Redick.

There was a lot of ground covered -- more than enough to stretch into Friday's show -- but for today, it's a focus on the big picture the pair tried to push. The big theme was optimism. About the work that's been done this offseason to try and help players build on last season. About the addition of Redick, and the fresh thinking he could bring to the job. About confidence in the group they have, if they can get a little good fortune and a lot of good health. This last one was particularly emphasized by Pelinka, who has received a ton of criticism from Lakers fans about the team's almost total lack of action (from a personnel standpoint) over the summer.

So is the optimism warranted?

What about what's coming? Does the newfound commitment to player development the team is pushing hard mean they're not going to be aggressive trying to make trades and using those first rounders at their disposal? In that regard, Pelinka was more non-committal than he usually is. Often he'll talk down the notion of bold moves while simultaneously leading fans to believe that's exactly what the team is looking to do.

So when nothing happens? Fans get annoyed. Is this now a matter of Pelinka underpromising and hopefully over-delivering?

Pelinka did say he'd make a deal if the right one came along, but the plan going forward is to frame things in the context of "Sustainable Lakers Excellence."

Oh, and Jarred Vanderbilt might just be back for the opener after all!

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Pelinka and Redick meet the media!

SEGMENT 2: Vanderbilt looks like he might be back for the opener after all!

SEGMENT 3: What exactly is Sustainable Lakers Excellence?

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Last year, it took Darvin Ham a very, very long time to settle on the starting lineup that Lakers fans—and especially THE LAKERS PLAYERS—wanted to see.

JJ Redick didn't even make it to training camp before landing in that spot. Speaking with Zach Lowe on his podcast, he said the group that starts will be the one that went 23-10 last season. That would be LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. This isn't necessarily a blockbuster decision. First, that group was quite successful together last season. Second, there aren't exactly a ton of alternatives. Aside from Jarred Vanderbilt stepping in for Rui, how many different options does Redick really have, assuming these guys are all healthy?

But nonetheless, it's nice to get this sort of thing out of the way early, and Redick having the good sense to just go where everyone knows he should, and likely would anyway even with some sort of coachy, "we're all going to have to compete" posturing, is refreshing. If Darvin Ham had a tendency to overthink and overcomplicate, it's nice to see Redick isn't doing that with the starting lineup.

Moreover, settling on this now means the Lakers can go into training camp with a roadmap uncluttered by things that would unnecessarily take up time.

What else did Redick have to say? There was a lot in the interview (released a day before Redick will appear in El Segundo with Rob Pelinka in front of the media). He talked about LeBron and what it means to him for James to be "off ball." He talked about Bronny, about the perception many have that Redick "skipped the line," and more.

What should fans expect, and hope, to hear from him and Pelinka on Wednesday?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: JJ Redick has a starting lineup!

SEGMENT 2: Redick on LeBron and the Lakers offense.

SEGMENT 3: What to expect from Redick and Pelinka on Wednesday.

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The Lakers, as everyone knows by now, didn't do much to improve themselves in the offseason. They didn't get worse, but they didn't get any better, either.

The hope is internal improvement—from players like Max Christie and Austin Reaves, better health from Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent, better coaching from JJ Redick—will be enough to elevate them past last year's 47 wins and at the least, make them look like a potential contender if Rob Pelinka can make a move. But part of playing all the way to their ceiling is the idea of getting off to a hot start.

Many teams will stage a minicamp before official traning camps open. Run by players, they help build spirit and cohesion. The Lakers have done this a bunch of times in the LeBron Era... but won't this year. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both back in LA and working out, but presumably the offseason work with Team USA threw off a normal summer enough where this wasn't going to happen. Does it mean Davis and James will take it easy through camp? Are they going to ease into the season?

It's a tough balance. The Lakers need them both to be fresh for the playoffs to have a chance to advance. They also need them to win games in the regular season, in order to make those playoffs. The schedule, as noted, is torture. The Lakers need to be operating at as high a level as possible exiting the preseason. They know their teammates, but not the staff of the scheme.

It's a tricky spot!

All together, it's one reason the eggheads (or egghead, at least) at ESPN (Kevin Pelton in this case) believes the Lakers are a likely candidate to take a step back in wins this year. There is the normal concern about the health of James and Davis, who seemed to defy the odds (or at least recent seasons) by playing a ton of games last year. Can they do it again? It also notes the Lakers were unusually successful in close games. That's a number that tends to regress year to year, since it's often luck-based.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: No minicamp ... is that a bad sign?

SEGMENT 2: How can the Lakers balance a lot of competing forces?

SEGMENT 3: Are the Lakers likely to take a step back this year?

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It's been a common theme this offseason: The Lakers are stuck from a roster standpoint, and getting unstuck won't be simple.

The latest illustration of this reality? Even players who are in that second tier of potential trade targets (i.e. non-stars with giant salaries) are getting problematic. Toronto's Bruce Brown underwent arthroscopic surgery last week, and will miss at least the start of training camp, and perhaps some of the start of the year. Brown's name hasn't percolated around the rumor mill much lately, but he's been a reported target for the Lakers for a couple years.

At this point, were the Lakers inclined to make a deal for Brown before the start of the season... well, that gets hard. The Lakers don't have many options, and to use some of them on a guy coming off surgery, before seeing he's healthy could be tough. Realistically, though, whether for Brown or anyone else, would the Lakers be better off at this point waiting to see how things go at the start of the year before making a move?

Learning where their holes really are? What the strengths and weaknesses of this team might be (because they won't be exactly the same as last year's, even with the same roster, given the new regime on the sidelines.

Even a hypothetical with Brown (or anyone making about the 20+ mil would require trading Rui Hachimura or D'Angelo Russell. And with that, there are trade offs. Trade a big like Rui for a smaller player like Brown, and you're sacrificing size and (in this case) shooting and adding to a logjam in the backcourt. Trade Russell and you lose playmaking (if you're not getting a PG back) and (if you're not getting a shooter) 3-point capabilities. You're also relying a lot on Gabe Vincent to be heathy and productive... and for Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood to be the same.

Again, it's complicated, and unlikely to get any less complicated anytime soon... so maybe the best solution is to gather data?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Bruce Brown gets surgery. Another potential trade target is banged up.

SEGMENT 2: What Brown's surgery represents, even when it's not about Brown.

SEGMENT 3: Would you trade Rui for Brown? Russell?

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Point being, when you have rotation players, or perhaps mu