Lakers' JJ Redick Reveals 'First Person I Called in Free Agency' This Summer

Nov 3, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA: Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick talks to a referee during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Even without 21-time All-NBA superstar power forward LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to a stellar 2025-26 season start.

More news: Lakers Beat Out West Rival to Sign Jake LaRavia

Beyond the shocking ascent of Austin Reaves to an All-Star tier, the other big surprise of the year has been just how well new free agent signings Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia have meshed — and how quickly.

During a recent press conference, second-year Los Angeles head coach JJ Redick made a surprise revelation about his top priority in free agency.

"Our group is so connected right now, we were able to get back together, and there was no quitting."

JJ Redick talks to the media after the #LakeShow wins their 5th straight game, beating the Spurs 118-116. pic.twitter.com/pHwmaUZAuj

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 6, 2025

“There’s a reason why he was the first person I called in free agency,” Redick raved of LaRavia. “I felt like he could do a lot of things at a high level and so many times in this league we have the superstar and then we have the specialist. A lot of roster construction works that way."

LaRavia inked a two-year, $12 million deal with Los Angeles.

Across nine regular season games with Los Angeles so far (four starts), the 6-foot-8 Wake Forest product has been averaging 12.1 points on .554/.406/.560 shooting splits, 5.2 boards, 2.8 dimes, and 1.4 steals a night.

More news: Lakers' Luka Doncic Gives Stamp of Approval to Offseason Addition

"And frankly, there’s not a ton of guys that don’t fall into one of those two archetypes, whether you’re a rim-running, rim-protecting big, you’re a 3-and-D guy, you’re a movement shooter, you’re an on-ball defender," Redick offered. "There’s all these archetypes, there’s not a lot of archetypes for the guy that can do a little bit of everything well."

LaRavia's Versatility

LaRavia is scoring beyond just his 40.6 percent long range sniping on 3.6 triple tries a night. The versatility of his output appears to have made a big difference on the Lakers' approach to scoring, even sans James or sometimes key scorers like Luka Doncic (who has missed four games thus far but is healthy now) Austin Reaves (who will miss his third straight game on Saturday with a groin strain). Typically, at least one of Doncic and Reaves has been available.

In LA's one game without any of James, Doncic, and Reaves, on the second night of a back-to-back slate, Ayton stepped up to helped the Lakers cool the otherwise red-hot Portland Trail Blazers this past Monday.

For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.