Previewing The 2024-25 Los Angeles Lakers
September 14th, 2024
by Alan Lu
After a successful season in 2023 that saw then-rookie head coach Darvin Ham lead the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals that year, things went downhill for the 2024 Los Angeles Lakers after they won the first inaugural In-Season Tournament. They stumbled in the second half of the season before winning their play-in tournament game to get the seventh seed, but then they lost in five games to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. The Lakers were unsatisfied with Darvin Ham’s coaching performance in his second season, so they fired him and replaced him with new head coach J.J. Redick, fresh off of a stint as an ESPN analyst and from the Mind the Game podcast with LeBron James. They also selected Dalton Knecht and Bronny James in the draft.
In addition, LeBron James and Anthony Davis helped Team USA win the Gold Medal in the 2024 Olympics, and LeBron had a dominant showing in Paris. This season for the Lakers, LeBron and company will hope that his tremendous performance combined with their new acquisitions will yield to better postseason results this time around.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis have had a tremendous impact for the Lakers over the years, especially in 2020, and they were able to get the Gold Medal this summer, and they will likely lead the Lakers back to the playoffs in 2025. (Photo: Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports, via Lakers Nation)
Star Players:
F LeBron James and C Anthony Davis
LeBron James is one of the greatest players to have ever played in the game, and he is a superstar forward that is the catalyst of their team’s offense. He is a dynamic shot creator, and he can do it all on the floor. He also helped Team USA win the Gold Medal.
Davis is a very athletic, energetic big man that played very well last season. When healthy, he was one of the best players in the NBA, and he is a terrific interior player. Like James, he’ll need to stay healthy, but he was a formidable force for the Lakers last season.
Additions:
G-F Dalton Knecht, G Bronny James, F Armel Traore, F Blake Hinson, C Kylor Kelley, and G Quincy Olivari
The Lakers adde a lot of rookies to their roster, but the biggest addition of theirs of the summer by far was adding Dalton Knecht by selecting him 17th overall in the draft. Dalton Knecht is an agile, sharpshootiing swingman that had a tremendous senior season, and he is a rookie that comes in with a polished skill set, and he could end up making one of the two All-Rookie teams in 2025.
Subtractions:
G Spencer Dinwiddie and G-F Taurean Prince
The Lakers lost a couple of veteran role players, and the loss of Spencer Dinwiddie will hurt the Lakers’ team, as Dinwiddie was a valuable playmaking combo guard that has provided solid offensive skills for many years, and though he’s coming off a down season, I think Dinwiddie would’ve been a very good fit for Redick’s offense had they kept him. In addition, Prince’s ability to make plays as a 3 and D forward could hurt them a bit, but that could also allow room for some of their other players to step up this season.
Rookies:
G-F Dalton Knecht, G Bronny James, F Armel Traore, F Blake Hinson, C Kylor Kelley, and G Quincy Olivari
Dalton Knecht is the most likely rookie to make an impact on the Lakers this season, and he has the skills to become an upper-tier player in the league in the future. The Lakers also added a lot of other rookies that could factor to be backend roster players on this team.
Expected Rotation:
Austin Reaves played an integral role on the 2023 Los Angeles Lakers’ team, and he played for Team USA in the 2023 Basketball World Cup last summer.
(Photo: Pete Thomas/USA Today Sports via Reuters Con, via The Wall Street Journal)
LeBron James and Anthony Davis lead a superstar-laden starting lineup, and they have been two of the most impactful players in the game, and LeBron has put forth a long lasting impact in the league. They have formed a formidable tandem that helped the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA championship that season in the Orlando bubble. They also have solid role players in Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura, whose athleticism, shooting prowess, and scoring skills could help the Lakers make the playoffs once again in 2025.
Projected Starting Lineup:
Key Bench Players:
Dalton Knecht is a connector whose sharpshooting prowess and fairly solid all-around skills could allow him to make the Lakers’ rotation right away as a rookie in this league. (Photo: Nic Coury/Associated Press, via Los Angeles Times)
G-F Dalton Knecht
G-F Max Christie
The Rest of the Roster:
G-F Maxwell Lewis
F Armel Traore (Two-Way)
F Blake Hinson (Two-Way)
C Colin Castleton (Two-Way)
Others in Camp:
G Jordan Goodwin (Exhibit 10)
C Kylor Kelley (Exhibit 10)
G Quincy Olivari (Exhibit 10)
Team Options at the End of the 2025 Season:
Here I will project the likelihood of the Los Angeles Lakers to pick up and accept or decline the team options for various players at the end of the 2025 season.
Jalen Hood-Schifino – 50/50, Leaning Towards It Will Be Declined (50%-60% Certainty)
Head Coach:
JJ Redick is the new head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Lakers’ brass are hoping that he will change their playoff fortunes for the better in 2025, and they are hoping that he will be a successful coach for the Lakers for a long time. (Photo: Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press, via Yahoo Sports)
JJ Redick
2032-24 (LAL): 0-0, 0-0 in the playoffs
Coaching Career: 0-0, 0-0 in the NBA Playoffs
JJ Redick was a standout player at Duke, played 15 years in the NBA, was a former ESPN analyst, and he showed tremendous knowledge and communication skills when he would break down NBA plays in a very astute and intricate fashion on the Mind the Game Podcast with LeBron James. While it’s hard to know how rookie coaches will fare in the NBA or how they’ll fare right away, it seems almost certain that JJ Redick has the coaching knowledge, communication skills, and the instincts to lead the Lakers far into the future.
NBA Head Coach Rank: 20
Outlook:
LeBron James and Anthony Davis helped Team USA win the Gold Medal in the 2024 Olympics.
(Photo: Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Lakers will seek to build around LeBron, Anthony Davis, and JJ Redick to get back to the playoffs, and they definitely have the talent to do so. However, they didn’t seem to make any noticeable additions outside of adding Dalton Knecht and JJ Redick, but in the very tough Western Conference, that may not be enough to help them make a deep playoff run, even with LeBron and Anthony Davis, as the Lakers may not have enough depth outside of them. The Lakers will need other players to step up to support them this year, but otherwise, they could end up having another early exit in the playoffs in 2025.
Projected 2024-25 Finish:
Expected Win-Loss Record: 48-34
Projected Regular Season Finish: 7th in the Western Conference
Expected Playoff Finish: Projected to lose in the 1st Round
Preseason NBA Power Ranking: 12
I went to Basketball-Reference and No-Trade Clause to look up some information for this write-up. It will be an exciting basketball season this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing the in-season tournament to see how that will unfold. Anyways, that is my write-up on my preview of the 2024-25 Los Angeles Lakers. Thanks for reading.