2025 Los Angeles Lakers Preseason Preview
The Los Angeles Lakers finished last season with a record of 47 wins and 35 loses. They lost in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs to the Denver Nuggets. This will be the first year under new head coach JJ Redick, who last played in the NBA during the 2020-21 season.
(Photo by Ringo Chiu / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
LeBron James will turn 40 during this NBA season and shows no sign of slowing down, posting the 3rd best effective field goal percentage of his career last year while playing 71 games. James achieved this by reducing his field goal attempts, shifting his focus to playmaking which is exemplified by the significant jump in assists. LeBron also posted a career high .410 3pt percentage on 5.1 attempts per game.
Anthony Davis played a career high 76 games last season. In fact - the Lakers were exceptionally healthy last season with 6 players playing over 70 games (and 8 over 67). This means, however, the Lakers cannot really expect to improve by virtue of talent being more available; and after making minimal off season changes coach Redick will have to rely on improved schemes and rotations over last year if he hopes to help the team finish in the top 6 in the West and avoid the play-in tournament. With the exception of the abbreviated 2019-20 season where they finished 1st and won the NBA championship, the Lakers have not finished as a top 6 seed in the Western Conference since the 2014-15 season.
LeBron James has a player option for the 2025-26 season, and has until June 29th 2025 to exercise this. Additionally D’Angelo Russell will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season along with Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes, and Cam Reddish. The Lakers have 2 tradable first round picks as well as 3 potential first round swaps. All of these factors together could play into potential roster moves the Laker’s want to make this season, especially as LeBron James, who can’t play forever (right?), thinks about an eventual final run.
