Why JJ Redick’s ‘uncomfortable’ outburst signals potential Lakers trades on horizon

Before their Christmas Day battle with the Houston Rockets, JJ Redick made it clear that his Los Angeles Lakers needed to give more effort and that the “shortcuts” some players have been taking defensively are unacceptable. The lack of effort and intensity Redick saw from his group in a 132-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns made many believe the Lakers would respond on Christmas against a physical Rockets team, especially with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves returning from their injuries.

Unfortunately for Redick, much of the same occurred, and the Lakers once again lost, this time in a 23-point blowout on their home floor on Christmas. Again, the Lakers’ head coach put his team on blast, this time making it known that there would be no presents and only coal waiting for them at Saturday’s practice.

“We don’t care enough,” Redick told reporters on Thursday night in LA. “And that’s the part that bothers me a lot. We don’t care enough to do the things that are necessary, and we don’t care enough to be a professional. We had it, we had it. I always say this about culture, I always say this about a good team being a functioning organism, it can change like that. We don’t have it right now.

“Saturday’s practice — I told the guys it’s going to be uncomfortable. The meeting is going to be uncomfortable. I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”

Lakers head coach JJ Redick WENT OFF after his team's 119-96 loss to the Rockets

"Tonight we were a terrible basketball team… Saturday's practice, I told the guys, it's gonna be uncomfortable… I'm not doing another 53 games like this."pic.twitter.com/i37f0zLX0H

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 26, 2025

The Lakers have officially reached an inflection point in their season. After losing to the Rockets, Los Angeles now finds itself in the midst of its first three-game losing streak of the season, and while they are still 19-10 overall, the Lakers have ranked as the third-worst defensive team in the league since the start of December.

In this span of 10 games, the Lakers have gone 4-6, surrendering an average of 121.4 points per game to their opponents.

Although health issues have challenged the Lakers’ depth as of late, this is a team that solely relies on the production of Reaves, Doncic, and LeBron James to do the heavy lifting. There is no defensive intensity present, and the constant lack of ball movement has made the Lakers predictable on offense.

After all, the Lakers are 27th in assists and dead last in field goal attempts per game this season, as their offense continues to stall outside of their “big three,” if that’s a term we still use in the NBA nowadays.

The Lakers look slow, they don’t have athletes around their star players like most of the other teams in the Western Conference, and Redick’s frustrations are reaching a new boiling point. That puts all of this team’s questions on Rob Pelinka’s desk with the NBA trade deadline less than six weeks away.

Pressure for change mounting in Los Angeles?

There was a major difference that stood out between the Lakers and Rockets on Christmas Day in Los Angeles.

Since Ime Udoka took over as the head coach in Houston, his teams have always played with an edge to them regarding physicality, toughness, and simply giving it their all on both sides of the court. The Rockets are always diving for 50-50 balls, making the extra pass, contesting shots, and doing all the little things for people to watch them and say, “Those guys are tough to play.”

That just can’t be said about the Lakers. When Doncic, Reaves, or James are knocking down shots, the Lakers’ offense can obviously carry them in a lot of situations and mask the problems on defense. But when offensive production isn’t at a high level, the Lakers look lost and simply outmatched when it comes to physicality and intensity.

There is no edge to this team outside of Redick, as he could probably give better effort on defense at 41 years old than many on his roster. Unlike the Rockets, who naturally play with force and physicality, the Lakers look like a team that constantly needs to be reminded that those aspects are a part of basketball.

Doncic cannot do it all despite being the face of the franchise, and even he knows something needs to change.

“I don’t know what has to change, but definitely something needs to change,” Doncic said on Christmas, via Lakers reporter Khobi Price. “We will know in the next few games. We got to figure out, that’s the thing we have (to do). Everybody got to talk about it. I know JJ said it’s going to be uncomfortable. As (it) should be.”

Redick is making it clear that change is necessary, and now Luka is signaling that what the Lakers have isn’t good enough right now. Pressure is clearly mounting for Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office to make some sort of change before the trade deadline, but outside of having minimum contracts, the Lakers’ lack of overall assets certainly limits them in potential trade talks.

For years, the winning idea for building a title-contending team around LeBron has been surrounding him with capable 3-point shooting threats and athletic defenders. Los Angeles has never truly done this for James, and the same script needed to find success around Doncic isn’t being followed.

Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber, both of whom are in the final years of their respective contracts and making around $11 million, hold virtually no value before the trade deadline unless additional assets are attached with their expiring salaries. Dalton Knecht, the Lakers’ first-round pick from 2024, is barely in the rotation and could maybe give the Lakers a second-round pick at best in trade talks.

Jake LaRavia, whom the Lakers signed in the offseason to a two-year, $12 million contract, could possibly generate interest on the trade market over the next few weeks since he’s a young wing who has shown flashes of his perimeter shooting skills. However, his defensive prowess is questionable at times, and he alone won’t bring the Lakers what they need.

Jarred Vanderbilt is an athletic forward the Lakers signed to a four-year extension in 2023 to be their defensive force on the wing, yet his impact really hasn’t been felt all year. That essentially makes his contract dead weight for the Lakers unless they can attach intriguing assets to it in trade talks.

And then there is Rui Hachimura in the final year of his contract and making $18.2 million. This is the salary slot Los Angeles has explored potential moves with since last year’s trade deadline, yet no moves have really presented themselves to Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office.

Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins is a player the Lakers explored trade talks about this past offseason, and he is the ideal type of athletic 3-and-D wing to add around Doncic, James, and Reaves. The problem is that the Heat haven’t been moved by anything Los Angeles has to offer, and Miami has signaled that they aren’t actively shopping Wiggins.

Herb Jones is another player high atop the Lakers’ trade wish list, especially ahead of this year’s trade deadline. The Lakers have already held conversations with the Pelicans about Jones’ availability, but they, too, aren’t actively looking to move their defensive-minded wing. Jones’ asking price remains very high, and he appears to be out of the Lakers’ price range in terms of assets.

The market for athletic, defensive-minded players is extremely slim this year, leaving the Lakers with little to no options to immediately improve their title outlook this year. Sacramento Kings guard/wing Keon Ellis is the only other name that comes to mind, and league personnel have linked the Lakers to him in recent weeks.

Then again, what is the ultimate goal this year for the Lakers, and was this team even assembled with the idea of competing for a championship this year?

Outside of Doncic, James, and Reaves, the Lakers don’t have adequate trade value on their roster to make the necessary adjustments they need, and several teams in the Western Conference have surpassed them in terms of making the 2026 NBA Finals.

Is it truly worth sacrificing the little amount of future draft picks this organization has if there are multiple moves to be made in order to get back into the championship equation? That is the conundrum Pelinka and his staff face over the next five weeks, as is deciding what the futures of James and Reaves look like.

LeBron James, Austin Reaves’ futures

The futures of LeBron James and Austin Reaves are the elephants in the room that nobody in Los Angeles seems to want to discuss.

Both players are in the final years of their respective contracts before unrestricted free agency, since Reaves will be declining his player option, and the unique positions James and Reaves are in basically have the Lakers with their hands tied behind their backs.

Starting with James, he has a full no-trade clause. Rich Paul, his best friend and agent, has made it clear that there is no chance of LeBron not finishing the 2025-26 season in a Lakers uniform. Maybe this is all just talk, and there are plans behind the scenes for James to be traded, but that is highly unlikely given how much his camp and people close to him like to talk.

Barring a drastic change and LeBron himself wanting to leave Los Angeles immediately, which is extremely unlikely to happen, James will be finishing the season in a Lakers uniform. Even if he did want to be traded, good luck finding a team that can make acquiring his $52.6 million salary for three months work.

From the Lakers’ perspective in this crazy scenario, there is no way that they would be able to get anything of value in a LeBron trade since the team(s) they would be working with would obviously know he doesn’t want to be in Los Angeles.

James isn’t going anywhere, and he is staying with the Lakers through the end of this season.

Now to Reaves, who holds the most trade value out of any player on their roster. Trading Reaves is something the Lakers have adamantly refused to discuss, dating back to last season. Plenty of teams hold interest in Reaves, though, and he will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason once he declines his $14.8 million player option.

Will the Lakers be willing to break the bank to keep him as their clear No. 2 next to Doncic moving forward? Does Reaves even want to continue playing the role of “Robin” to Luka’s “Batman” for the foreseeable future? After all, Jalen Brunson didn’t want to be Doncic’s understudy anymore in Dallas, and look how that turned out for him.

Reaves will command a massive market in free agency, and plenty of teams will present him with offers that exceed $35 million in annual average value. Some may even be willing to go above that and give him the full max: a four-year, nearly $180 million contract that pays him about $45 million per season.

The Lakers are obviously in the driver’s seat when it comes to re-signing Reaves since they can give him a five-year, $241 million deal, just under $50 million in annual value. However, doing so means Doncic and Reaves would be tied down to at least $100 million in salary, leaving the Lakers in a tough position to build around them.

If there is genuine fear that Reaves could sign elsewhere in free agency, the Lakers would be foolish not to explore what his trade market looks like right now. At the same time, trading Reaves probably doesn’t move the needle for the Lakers in terms of improving this year, as the franchise would likely look to recuperate lost draft assets and possibly a young player or two on their roster.

There are pros and cons to exploring the trade market for Reaves, just like there are pros and cons to the Lakers seeing what leveraging their last few future draft picks could do to improve this team right now.

Frustrations are clearly mounting in Los Angeles.

Whether or not Pelinka and his staff answer what appear to be endless pleas coming from Redick, Doncic, and the Lakers’ fans is one of the biggest mysteries of this NBA trade cycle.

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