Grading Lakers' Biggest Moves from 2024 NBA Offseason

The Los Angeles Lakers' 2024 NBA offseason had a few major moments.

Hiring hooper-turned-broadcaster JJ Redick as head coach was one of them. Making history by uniting LeBron James with his son, Bronny James, was another.

That was pretty much it for fireworks, though. No wholesale changes—not yet, anyway.

That makes it easy to spotlight the biggest moves of the summer, though, since there weren't many moves at all. How well did the Lakers do with those moves, though? Let's break out the red pen and find out with an old fashioned letter grade assessment.

This is Redick's first venture into the coaching box, which adds the risky element of surprise. That he'll spend his first go-round in the fish bowl that is coaching LeBron James—under the Hollywood spotlight, no less—only adds to the pressure facing Redick.

He's not new to the game of basketball, though.

He was a lottery pick in 2006 and played 15 seasons in the NBA. That's not a bad run for a 6'3" non-point guard who had...how shall we put this...less than elite athleticism. His prolific perimeter shooting helped keep him around, but so did his razor-sharp basketball mind, which he further displayed as an analyst and podcaster.

He knows the game and communicates it at a high level. He has a wealth of hoops knowledge to share, and if he can deliver it effectively to a locker room, he could be an instant success. Once Dan Hurley was off the board, Redick was the most exciting option available to the Lakers.

Now, excitement carries some inherent risk, and it takes more than hoops smarts to steer a locker room. Redick could struggle with his new gig, and if he does, L.A. is at risk of wasting one of LeBron's final seasons. This could go wrong, but there are ways this could go much more right than if L.A. had brought in a retread.

Grade: B

You wouldn't think a win-right-now would have much use for the No. 17 pick in a draft no one seemed to like. That's why the Lakers were identified early in the pre-draft process as an obvious trade candidate.

L.A., of course, kept the pick and somehow wound up scratching a longtime nagging itch by adding plug-and-play sharpshooter Dalton Knecht out of Tennessee.

His three-point shot not only addresses one of this club's greatest needs, he is ready to contribute right now. And as he showed in summer league, he packs more scoring punch than a perimeter specialist can offer.

It's hard to imagine even still, months later, that Knecht slipped to this range. He was a lottery pick in virtually every mock and cracked the lottery's top half in a number of them. This may have been the best pick of the entire talent grab.

Grade: A+

If Lakers fans come away from this offseason disappointed, it'd be hard to blame them. After all, this front office seemingly set the stage for a major addition or two.

It's important to remember, though, this wasn't a disaster. Not even close.

Doomsday would've involved LeBron James skipping town, and he had options if he wanted to explore them. In the end, though, not only did he stick around, he took less than the maximum on his new deal to afford this team some flexibility for refreshing the roster.

In virtually any other scenario, giving a 39-year-old a two-year, $101.3 million contract with a no-trade clause would be a baffling decision. With an ageless talent like James, though, it was a no-brainer.

Grade: A+