Rob Pelinka’s Lakers cannot be what JJ Redick wants them to be

Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick called out his team’s defense and general lack of effort after their Christmas Day beatdown at the hands of the Houston Rockets.

It wasn’t a reaction to a single performance. Redick has taken shots at his team in the past and we’ve witnessed too many angry timeouts to count. Yet, the Lakers sit fifth in the West with a 19-10 record, a tally inflated by a stellar 10-0 record in "clutch" games.

Neither the Lakers perfect record in close-game performances nor their lackluster defense are mirages. Rather, they are perfect encapsulations of what this team is as presently constructed.

With LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves on roster, the Lakers possess a trio of cold-blooded late-game assassins, each able to single-handedly drag their team over the line. In a close contest, that’s a most extravagant luxury.

Yet in a league where the pace of the game is extreme and the distances that have to be covered oppressive, depth, effort and hustle are non-negotiables. Like shooting or playmaking, hustle is a skill. And in that area the Lakers are patently lacking.

These Lakers don’t have that dog in them

Was it only last season that Redick was hailing his "Banshees" maniacally forcing opposing offenses out of their rhythm?

This season, the offensive struggles of Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt have rendered them unplayable despite their defensive positives. Dorian Finney-Smith and Jordan Goodwin were let go, further diluting the Lakers' depth. It’s those latter two names that are indicative of the flaws of general manager Rob Pelinka’s team building model.

Rather than keeping a trusted veteran who has made a career out of doing the dirty work for his team’s stars in Finney-Smith, Pelinka pivoted to former 1^st overall pick Deandre Ayton, a player possessing amazing physical gifts but not exactly known for his consistency or effort levels. Goodwin is a relatively young, energetic role player who is only getting better. Instead, Pelinka went for an ageing name in Marcus Smart, the oft-injured and rapidly declining former Defensive Player of the Year.

Pelinka loves a brand name

They say everyone has a type. Pelinka’s type could be defined as "names people have heard of." He has brought in stars to accompany James with varying degrees of success, but his biggest blind spot is his believing that his staff can turn around every failed first round pick that he can lay his hands on.

In the past five years, Pelinka has acquired: Ayton, Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Nick Smith, Cam Reddish, Mo Bamba, Jaxon Hayes, Rui Hachimura, Lonnie Walker and Malik Monk. That’s 10 former first rounders who – at their acquisition – had five years or less of pro experience.

Hachimura and Ayton are solid players, but neither are known for their blue-collar work ethic. Monk is occasionally explosive, albeit for another franchise. None are exactly intensity personified.

By contrast, the Lakers have seen the exact type of player they need slip from their grasp time and again: Goodwin, Finney-Smith, Scotty Pippen Jr, Jay Huff, Alex Caruso.

Pelinka, for all his ability to acquire big names, doesn’t value the abilities that you need to surround star players, namely: hustle, grit and shooting.

Is time running out for Pelinka?

New Lakers owner Mark Walter has practically unlimited resources and a track record of accepting nothing less than excellence as owner of baseball’s Dodgers. Pelinka’s relationship with Kobe Bryant and the Buss family will mean nothing to him.

If Pelinka is unable, or unwilling, to make the appropriate tweaks to elevate his roster into true contention, don’t be surprised if by season’s end he is given a firm handshake, an expensive watch and a swift boot through the exit.