New Los Angeles Lakers head coach J.J. Redick began to lay out his plans for the team during his introductory press conference on Monday. This included some of his initial thoughts on the team’s offense, which notably included that he wants the team to take more 3-point shots next season.
Taking more threes became a theme of Redick’s plans and thoughts for the offense during his presser. The Lakers ranked 28th in the NBA in three point attempts per game last season, averaging 31.4 attempts per game. During both of their seasons under former head coach Darvin Ham, the Lakers ranked bottom-five in the NBA in three-point attempts and attempted fewer than 32 three-point shots per game.
This was a significant missed opportunity for the Lakers since they had the eighth-best three-point shooting percentage as a team last year, making 37.7 percent of their threes. D’Angelo Russell was the team’s leading three-point shooter a season ago, ranking fifth in the NBA by averaging 8.8 attempted three-point shots per game and ranking 12th in the NBA for averaging 2.8 three-pointers made per game. He also led the team in three-point shooting percentage, hitting 31.8 percent of his three-point attempts.
Redick specifically mentioned in his press conference that he wanted to see both LeBron James and Rui Hachimura to shoot more three-pointers next season.
Along with shooting more threes, Redick plans to be adaptable and use analytics, which he noted through saying, “I’m gonna use math.”
Redick of course takes on the daunting task of coaching the Lakers, and with no prior coaching experience as well. Despite his lack of experience, he is embracing his knowledge of the sport and position to strategize what will work best for the team next season.