New Projection Lists Lakers' JJ Redick as Major Coach of the Year Contender

Matt Levine | 6 Hours Ago

Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

When the Los Angeles Lakers made the decision to hire former NBA guard JJ Redick to take over as their head coach this summer, the move was met with all sorts of criticism. The main argument against the decision was that Redick had no coaching experience and was taking over a team that still had title hopes.

Redick had the Lakers bring in a veteran assistant coaching staff around him to help navigate his first season as the leading person in charge. While it's early, things have started to work out decently for the head coach.

Los Angeles sits with a record of 7-4 through 11 games and the players have seemingly bought into his plans. If he keeps this up, Redick could see some personal accomplishments take place.

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report put together a list of Way-Too-Soon Coach of the Year honors and Redick made the cut. He was listed as an honorable mention but could work his way up the ladder if the Lakers continue to win games.

"That said, Redick continues to pull most of the right levers in a pressurized situation. He handled the Bronny James situation as well as any coach could have, correctly empowered Anthony Davis on offense and had the guts to quickly bench D'Angelo Russell when the point guard's effort level dipped. If Redick can figure out how to get the Lakers' awful transition defense sorted out, he'll make his way into the top five."

Redick has helped the Lakers become one of the more interesting teams in the entire NBA. Despite the team having a fairly similar roster to last season, they have looked much more effective under the leadership of Redick.

The team has worked their offensive attack through star big man Anthony Davis and it has worked wonders. Davis has looked like an early MVP candidate in Redick's system, showing that he finally has taken the torch from LeBron James as the best player on the team.

"He's done a good job of putting me in spots to be successful," Davis said of Redick. "My teammates have done a good job of giving me the ball where I'm most comfortable. Obviously they're encouraging me to try to go get it, but I'm still continuously trying to play the right way."

There is still a long way to go for the Lakers but early signs have Redick showing that he was the right person for the job.

More Lakers: Former Lakers Assistant Phil Handy Finally Becomes Head Coach