Two years ago, JJ Redick sat down for a Las Vegas dinner that people around the league brushed off as idle chatter, an informal meeting, since the Lakers coaching job wasn’t even open yet. By the time things became real, Redick inherited a locker room built entirely around one man’s rhythms. That arrangement is now over. LeBron James has told the Lakers he won’t return for the 2026-27 season. For Jason Williams, though, the departure might have removed one particular challenge for Redick.

Speaking on the Hoops and Hollerin podcast, Williams, who won a championship with the Miami Heat in 2006, said: “Getting rid of LeBron, as crazy as it sounds, is like a relief. Now he can just do his own thing. I can do what I want. I ain’t got to think about if I want to run play too; I ain’t got to really think about what Braun’s going to think about it.”

For two seasons, Redick had to build a system around two players who both belonged at the center of an offense. For his front office, one of the biggest coaching achievements was getting LeBron James, in his forties, to accept a smaller offensive role behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. It had to be a major shift for a player like Bron, who had been his team’s first option at every prior stop in 22 seasons. But it was just as challenging for the coach.

With two stars, every play call has to take into account shots, touches, and minutes for both stars, limiting how freely a coach can experiment. LeBron’s numbers, too, made the balancing act harder. Last season, he scored 20.9 points and was seventh in assists in the NBA.

Also, with Doncic, Reaves, and James all on the floor, the Lakers recorded a minus-7.8 net rating according to Databallr. With the isolation of James from the rest of the stars, however, the number increased to plus-8.8. Without James on the court, Doncic and Reaves posted plus-17.9. These statistics made Redick continuously shuffle lineups.

Redick’s track record with both players on the roster was already good enough with back-to-back 50-win seasons, the first Lakers coach to do that since Phil Jackson, and a single appearance in the second round. Whether a simpler offensive hierarchy actually produces more wins is still unproven.

That said, there’s also a roster benefit tied to it all. As shared by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, James’ exit freed up approximately $52 million in salary-cap space, which Pelinka has already used by signing four players, namely Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton, for a combined $70 million-plus in average annual value.