Originally published by LakersNation.com
The Los Angeles Lakers have finally built the team around Luka Doncic that they’ve wanted to since trading for him in 2025. General manager Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick worked together to create a roster that is younger, deeper and hopefully better than the team that reached the second round last season.
However, the Western Conference is occupied by two juggernauts in the 2025 NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the reigning conference champions in the San Antonio Spurs. Many believe that the rest of the West is in a fight for third. When Pelinka was asked about that, he focused on the way fans will enjoy rooting for this season’s team.
“Yeah, I think having a level of sort of confident patience is good in any decision-making process,” Pelinka said at the annual preseason press conference. “That said, we know the expectations in this city are for our team to be a championship-caliber team every year. That’s what our fans want to see. And so we would never ask them to be patient with those expectations, just realistic.
“And I think the one thing that JJ (Redick) and I could guarantee about this team is it’s gonna be a group of players that our fans are gonna be really proud to watch. I can already tell just in watching the pickup games and seeing the footage of the guys overseas. This is an incredibly high-character group of young players that care about each other already and care about playing the game the right way and competing every night. I think those roster qualities are really gonna be something our fans will be proud of. But we would never ask them to be patient in the championship expectations because that’s just the nature of this brand.”
Pelinka continued with a much clearer answer, saying that the process is still ongoing to build a championship team, even if they are huge fans of the work they’ve done thus far.
“I think building a championship roster is an evergreen process,” Pelinka said. “Like, you’re never done with the work. You’re never satisfied. You’re always looking to perfect, add more. And so I think it’s a process-oriented goal that’s always changing. You’re never done building a roster. So as JJ pointed out, there’s no off-season where you can check every single box you’re hoping to check. But we felt like the major ones we did, and the work continues. But we feel like we’re on the path of being a really competitive championship-level team.”
Redick then jumped in to give his stance on where the Lakers are in terms of championship equity.
“Just to follow up on that, I think that’s obviously a perspective that Rob has in his role,” Redick said. “I think from my role and from being a former player and really living for competition, the games are not played on paper. And so part of our team this year, part of our mindset is gonna be growth every single day, and becoming a championship-level team. No one is a championship-level team on September 29. There’s not a team in the league that is a championship-level team. That is an ongoing process throughout the year. Rob talks about his job in that. Well, I have a job in that. Our players have a job in that. I’m confident we’re gonna develop as a team into a championship-level team this year.”
Redick received praise from Pelinka for his work the last two seasons, and mentioned that Redick’s growth is as big a part of the process as the players on the roster.
“And part of the joy of what we did this off-season too, not just saying this ’cause he’s next to me now, but the first coach to come in here and have back-to-back 50-plus win seasons since Pat Riley is, is quite something. There was a great joy, I think, in the front office and a lot of credit to smart people upstairs.
“But really retrofitting a team around JJ’s ideologies and his passions and the way he sees and thinks and talks about the game and the type of players he wants to communicate the game to; that was a process that brought all the people here a lot of joy to do, clearly with Luka at the center. But that’s an important thing, I think when you’re roster building, is to have a roster that reflects the DNA of your head coach.”
Both Pelinka and Redick are right in their assessment of the Lakers. The roster does not, right now, appear to be a finished product capable of winning a title on day one. There might need to be some more ancillary moves — such as a trade or a free agency addition next summer — to really vault them.
However, they have done good work to fit a roster round their superstar in Doncic, and — as Redick says — nobody wins a championship in September, and the games still have to be played.
JJ Redick feels Lakers roster fits together for first time in his tenure
Redick appeared excited to get to work with this new-look roster, and one of the reasons for that is that he’s finally confident he has a roster whose skill sets all match up.
“I think we’ve always tried to give our players clearly defined roles, and I think with this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together, and so those roles probably get even more crystallized,” Redick said at his annual preseason press conference.
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The Los Angeles Lakers have finally built the team around Luka Doncic that they’ve wanted to since trading for him in 2025. General manager Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick worked together to create a roster that is younger, deeper and hopefully better than the team that reached the second round last season.
However, the Western Conference is occupied by two juggernauts in the 2025 NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the reigning conference champions in the San Antonio Spurs. Many believe that the rest of the West is in a fight for third. When Pelinka was asked about that, he focused on the way fans will enjoy rooting for this season’s team.
“Yeah, I think having a level of sort of confident patience is good in any decision-making process,” Pelinka said at the annual preseason press conference. “That said, we know the expectations in this city are for our team to be a championship-caliber team every year. That’s what our fans want to see. And so we would never ask them to be patient with those expectations, just realistic.
“And I think the one thing that JJ (Redick) and I could guarantee about this team is it’s gonna be a group of players that our fans are gonna be really proud to watch. I can already tell just in watching the pickup games and seeing the footage of the guys overseas. This is an incredibly high-character group of young players that care about each other already and care about playing the game the right way and competing every night. I think those roster qualities are really gonna be something our fans will be proud of. But we would never ask them to be patient in the championship expectations because that’s just the nature of this brand.”
Pelinka continued with a much clearer answer, saying that the process is still ongoing to build a championship team, even if they are huge fans of the work they’ve done thus far.
“I think building a championship roster is an evergreen process,” Pelinka said. “Like, you’re never done with the work. You’re never satisfied. You’re always looking to perfect, add more. And so I think it’s a process-oriented goal that’s always changing. You’re never done building a roster. So as JJ pointed out, there’s no off-season where you can check every single box you’re hoping to check. But we felt like the major ones we did, and the work continues. But we feel like we’re on the path of being a really competitive championship-level team.”
Redick then jumped in to give his stance on where the Lakers are in terms of championship equity.
“Just to follow up on that, I think that’s obviously a perspective that Rob has in his role,” Redick said. “I think from my role and from being a former player and really living for competition, the games are not played on paper. And so part of our team this year, part of our mindset is gonna be growth every single day, and becoming a championship-level team. No one is a championship-level team on September 29. There’s not a team in the league that is a championship-level team. That is an ongoing process throughout the year. Rob talks about his job in that. Well, I have a job in that. Our players have a job in that. I’m confident we’re gonna develop as a team into a championship-level team this year.”
Redick received praise from Pelinka for his work the last two seasons, and mentioned that Redick’s growth is as big a part of the process as the players on the roster.
“And part of the joy of what we did this off-season too, not just saying this ’cause he’s next to me now, but the first coach to come in here and have back-to-back 50-plus win seasons since Pat Riley is, is quite something. There was a great joy, I think, in the front office and a lot of credit to smart people upstairs.
“But really retrofitting a team around JJ’s ideologies and his passions and the way he sees and thinks and talks about the game and the type of players he wants to communicate the game to; that was a process that brought all the people here a lot of joy to do, clearly with Luka at the center. But that’s an important thing, I think when you’re roster building, is to have a roster that reflects the DNA of your head coach.”
Both Pelinka and Redick are right in their assessment of the Lakers. The roster does not, right now, appear to be a finished product capable of winning a title on day one. There might need to be some more ancillary moves — such as a trade or a free agency addition next summer — to really vault them.
However, they have done good work to fit a roster round their superstar in Doncic, and — as Redick says — nobody wins a championship in September, and the games still have to be played.
JJ Redick feels Lakers roster fits together for first time in his tenure
Redick appeared excited to get to work with this new-look roster, and one of the reasons for that is that he’s finally confident he has a roster whose skill sets all match up.
“I think we’ve always tried to give our players clearly defined roles, and I think with this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together, and so those roles probably get even more crystallized,” Redick said at his annual preseason press conference.
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