The Lakers have a lot of loose ends heading into the off-season. Firstly, the front office has to find a replacement for Darvin Ham. Especially someone who can gel well with LeBron James. Throughout the last two seasons, he’s had issues with Ham and they were deeply reflected on the court. While it may seem like a daunting task for Jeanie Buss to find a replacement to keep King James happy, Skip Bayless thinks they have a “great experiment” ready.

It’s none other than JJ Redick! It may not be officially decided, but Bayless dropped his two cents on James’ new podcast partner. He looked beyond coaching abilities for the Lakers’ latest vacancy. After comparing him to ‘little Pat Riley’, he said, “He’s got the Swagger, he’s got the look… He knows what it feels like to be criticized, he can take the heat, he can give as good as he gets”. Being a veteran analyst himself, Bayless then brought in an un-talked-about perspective from the business point of view.

“He would be great for me, for us, for undisputed, for our business because we would all be at the edge of our seats night after night… It would be a great experiment. It would be a ratings bonanza… Give me JJ Redick, give me drama king, give me box office, give me JJ Redick, the next coach of LA Lakers.” Well, Skip Bayless seemed pretty pumped about handing Redick his first-ever coaching role, but from where and when did this whole bandwagon begin?

JJ Redick, as the Lakers coach, has emerged as the latest buzz in the town after his ‘Mind the Game’ podcast success with LeBron James. In one of their episodes, they further kindled the rumors when they showed the fans a glimpse of their future timeout discussions. Keep in mind that Bayless weighed in on the ‘Redick being good for this business’ perspective as well. That is because Darvin Ham contrastingly had a subdued approach to his coaching. The 50-year-old often remained passive on the courtside with his hands inside his pockets.

Many a time, his personality wasn’t strong enough and LeBron James’ hyped-up nature during the game superseded it. Against the Nuggets in the playoffs, the veteran was extremely furious at Darvin Ham and the other Lakers coaches for not challenging a play. Bron threw a major fit by swinging his hands vigorously. The clip of the on-court incident that caused such a reaction was then replayed during the break for everyone to re-analyze. Turns out, the 39-year-old hadn’t nudged the ball out of play and was right about challenging the same.

While all that happened, Darvin Ham didn’t pay too much heed to the bustle, in an attempt to quietly focus on the ongoing proceedings. Speaking of the former head coach’s demeanor, popular NBA analyst Jason Timpf once said, “He was too much of a benevolent motivator. He never held those guys accountable on a day-to-day basis.” A shift in the coaching style could add more flavor to the side.

LeBron James & Co – The other loose ends

The coach scouting issue may conclude with the JJ Redick solution. However, at the same time, the team has various other issues to handle. Notably, the team has two players yet to sign their player option. Several reports have already stated that D’Angelo Russell has declined the $18.6 million player option. On the other hand, The Athletic reporter Jovan Buha hinted at the Lakers’ intention to rebuild the roster in the offseason.

In his latest show, he revealed that the Lakers would trade one of their first-round picks to find a third star. It indirectly implied that the team opened the back door for D’Lo. However, in the latest fact check by NBA Insider, Brett Siegel confirmed that Russell hasn’t declined his player option, but he is expected to do it in the summer. But we cannot know for sure until it’s done.

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Jovan Buha also claimed that the Lakers could use all their three first-round tradeable picks to get themselves a third star. This could be a massive compromise on the franchise’s end, however, to get their hands on a certain Trae Young or Donovan Mitchell, it’d cost them plenty. The Athletic reporter believes the Purple and Gold will be “active and aggressive” on the draft. They could also use Reaves or Hachimura in potential deals for a third superstar.

In the same intensity, Shams Charania revealed that the team has shown interest in roping in Bronny James in the upcoming draft. Well, we all know the thinking behind such a call, if it ends up being made. However, Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka are really walking on a tightrope here. As much as they would want LeBron James to stay in LA, the owners also need to secure the long-term future and interests of the Lakers.

Do they shoot for the longer ‘success-within-the-decade’ play or do they aggressively push for an NBA Championship by 2025 potentially with LeBron? What would you have done? Let us know in the comments below.