The Lakers pulled off the trade of the century when they landed Luka Doncic earlier this year. But to what avail? Despite having a dream duo of LeBron James and Doncic, the Purple and Gold failed big time with a brutal 4-1 exit. While HC JJ Redick is still figuring out what went wrong, Hall of Famer Paul Pierce believes that the Lakers are just one move away from ending their championship drought.

“If the Lakers want to get back to being a championship contender, you have to get out of constraints of the [LeBron James] era… It’s time for [Luka Doncic] era,” Pierce said. Knowing LeBron’s best days are way behind him, the Lakers made the right move by landing Doncic. But was this enough for a championship? ESPN’s Brian Windhorst did not hold back and blamed no one but HC JJ Redick for a ‘flawed roster.’ 

“I don’t mean this in a personal way,” Windhorst said. “JJ Redick coached very immaturely in this series.” Now, while Redick looks forward to building a championship-winning team, one of LeBron’s close confidants has also seemed to have agreed with Wildhorst.

LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, while on a recent episode of Haynes Briefs, talked about what he felt about this lackluster end to what was supposed to be a blockbuster season for the Purple & Gold. “It’s not on the players, those guys can go out and score 30 and 40 and 50, they can do all that. But it’s going to… It’s a race of the front offices, right, who’s going to make the proper moves to put the proper talent around for each one of those guys to be successful.” Paul said on the show. He emphasized the role of the front offices in this aspect of the game.

James’ agent pointed out that having superstars is great, but there needs to be a well-rounded supporting cast alongside them to succeed in the long run. Per Rich Paul, that’s where the team’s front office plays a massive role. Even before Paul, HC Redick also pointed out the exact gap in his system.

The most notable position the Lakers lacked was at the center. And Rich Paul wasn’t the only one to point it out. “I recognize the need for size, and certainly Gobert in Games 4 and 5 really hurt us on the offensive glass,” The Lakers’ HC told the reporters, putting forward his demands from the Lakers front office.

“But it is about, ‘What do you have in front of you?’ So I can have a philosophy, I can want to play up-tempo and move the ball side to side, and run seven different actions on a different possession. Is that what’s best for my group? If the answer is no, then I’m not going to do that. So it is about just trying to figure out what’s best for the group.” Redick added.

After failing to secure any big men within the trade deadline, the Lakers had almost no good options at that position. Jaxson Hayes was the only player LA could play, but he just didn’t cut it for Redick. The Lakers’ coach decided to bench him after just four minutes of action in Game 4, and did not play him in Game 5. So, LA’s lack of a big man was something that was massively exposed by the Timberwolves, especially the way Rudy Gobert exploited them big time.

Keeping this in mind, Redick has also put forward a demand for his players as LA looks to improve for the next season.

JJ Redick puts his demands forward for the upcoming season

The Los Angeles Lakers were massively exposed when it mattered the most during the postseason. LeBron James and Co. stumbled in the waning moments of the game as they were no match for the energetic Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers were dreadful in the final quarter, from missing layups to woeful shooting, they had everything going wrong. This was something they were able to cover up in the regular season, but the playoffs are a totally different story. While JJ Redick’s tactics did not make things any better, as he decided to play the same starting five for the entire second half during Game 4 of the series, he urged the front office for changes heading into the new season.

“I’ll start with the offseason and the work that’s required in an offseason to be in championship shape,‘ Redick told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “And we have a ways to go as a roster. And certainly, there are individuals that were in phenomenal shape. There’s certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. That’s where my mind goes immediately is we have to get in championship shape.” He pointed out that there are some players on the roster who need to be in better shape in order for LA to become a championship-contending squad. While Redick did not single out any of his players, everyone knows that Luka Doncic had his struggles with weight and conditioning in Texas.

In fact, it was reported to be one of the reasons why the Mavericks traded the 26-year-old point guard. Nonetheless, the Lakers have more than enough time now to work on their fitness and improve their roster as they look forward to a massive summer ahead of them. It will be interesting to see what moves JJ Redick and Co. make to improve this roster and surround LeBron James and Luka Doncic with the pieces they need to get to the championship level.