JJ Redick is one season into a four-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, and apparently, the team has already seen enough to know he’s The Guy moving forward. And in making that decision so swiftly, the Lakers have telegraphed what they’ve not-so-subtly hinted at for months: They are officially, unequivocally playing the long game.
President of basketball operations Rob Pelinka announced the somewhat-stunning Redick extension during their joint media availability at UCLA Health Training Center. Quite fittingly, the news was paired with the duo remaining noncommittal about what the future holds for LeBron James in Los Angeles—yet another sign the Lakers are focused on the bigger picture more than what 2025-26 holds.
Don’t get it twisted. Los Angeles is not entering the season preparing to bottom out. Pelinka has made it a point to say they will consider any and all options that make the team better. The Lakers still have plenty of talent at the top, including a permanently trimmed down version of Luka Doncic, and a deeper rotation in the bag than last year.
Still, the Redick extension is perhaps their most telltale move of all—because it’s one they didn’t need to make.
There’s only one reason to recommit to JJ Redick now
Attempts to spin Redick’s extension beyond Los Angeles doubling-down on a longer-term direction ring incredibly hollow. Sure, he just guided the Lakers to 50 wins. And yes, his messaging seems to resonate with Doncic.
None of this explains extending a contract that’s barely a year old, with three full seasons left in the tank.
Locking Redick down for this long bears a resemblance to what the Boston Celtics did when they hired now-lead-executive Brad Stevens to be their head coach in 2013. His first contract clocked in at six years. More recently, Will Hardy’s first contract with the Utah jazz checked in at five years.
Exact terms of Redick’s extension aren’t public knowledge. But you have to believe the deal spans, at minimum, an extra two years. And teams that commit so much time to a newer head coach aren’t irretrievably focused on the present.
The Celtics and Jazz were staring down rebuilds when they doled out their lengthy head-coaching pacts. Though the Lakers aren’t pining after lottery odds, the acquisition of a 26-year-old Doncic puts them on a longer timeline. Rather than entering mortgage-the-future mode to maximize what’s left of LeBron’s window, they’re now inside Luka’s window—which, despite being immediately open, gives them a longer runway.
Redick’s extension fits the rest of the Lakers’ offseason
Nothing about this is groundbreaking when viewing Redick’s extension through the lens of the Lakers’ entire offseason.
Pelinka and crew did not add any guaranteed money to the books that extends past 2026-27. The decision to not offer LeBron a new deal this past summer speaks volumes by itself. The absence of extensions for Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, so far, does the same.
It isn’t immediately clear whether the Lakers are more invested in creating flexibility to wait out the free-agency market, or wait out trade scenarios. It doesn’t actually matter. That they’re preparing to “wait” for anything at all is the bigger, more important takeaway. It implies a lack of absolute urgency.
Extending Redick reinforces as much, putting to bed any notion that he’s under imminent win-or-else pressure. This doesn’t mean the Lakers will be content to wander in the wilderness. But it does suggest they’re more concerned about the next era of basketball than the current one.