Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where we finally know the end.
Before the Lakers’ elimination game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, JJ Redick quoted a song by Dermot Kennedy.
“‘We can’t know the end,’” Redick said, “‘until it’s over.’”
After a 115-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday, it’s officially over.
After Marcus Smart’s three-point prayer rattled off the rim and Austin Reaves’ tip rolled off, LeBron James dapped up every Oklahoma City player on the court at the time one by one. Then he was the first Laker to disappear into the tunnel.
No one knows if it’ll be his last time in a Lakers uniform.
‘Proud of who we are’
Redick’s eyes glistened under the news conference lights. Sitting on the dais in front of an NBA playoffs banner, the coach spoke methodically.
“I didn’t want our season to end,” Redick said, holding tight to his emotions. “I wanted to keep this thing going.”
On the eve of the season, Redick said he was most looking forward to “the chaos.” That description was fitting. The Lakers weathered alternating injuries to all three of their superstars. They made a midseason trade. They got blown out in Atlanta, Oklahoma City (several times) and Boston. They won thrillers in Minnesota, Toronto and Orlando.
For such a long and winding season, the last game was also a surprisingly neat bow. In a desperate Game 4, the Lakers showed the resiliency they built all season. They also showed they’re still well out of the championship picture.
“That’s what we have to figure out this offseason,” Redick said of the gap between the Lakers and the championship teams they’re chasing. “I will say, for the things that we set out to do — to build championship habits and build our communication, and championship shape — I thought we were darn close to doing that.
“It doesn’t mean you’re going to win a championship, but I take a lot of pride in our players and what they all individually and collectively went through and what we turned out to be. You don’t know on Day 1 of training camp what you’re going to turn out to be. I’m just proud of who we are.”
The Lakers were a 50-win team in consecutive years for the first time since the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. They won their first playoff series since 2023, but playing without leading scorer Luka Doncic, they were never truly competitive in the Western Conference semifinals against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Doncic’s injury, suffered on the same day that Austin Reaves suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain that kept him out for four weeks and the beginning of the playoffs, left a permanent “what if” on the Lakers’ sudden playoff exit after the team battled through a six-game series with Houston.
“A lot of things didn’t go our way this season and there were a lot of opportunities for us to quit,” Reaves said, “and that’s not who we got in the locker room or the organization. Everybody stuck together.”
The Thunder were without a major piece as well. All-NBA wing Jalen Williams missed the entire series. Reigning most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was relatively quiet. Oklahoma City still overwhelmed the Lakers with their depth and execution.
Ajay Mitchell, starting in Williams’ place, averaged 22.5 points per game and shot 56.3% from the field. The former second-round draft pick averaged just 13.6 points in the regular season.
With major free agency questions looming this summer, this season was meant to test whether Doncic, Reaves and LeBron James could work as a trio. But they played only 29 games together. James missed the first 14 games of the season while battling sciatica. He returned to play in 60 of the final 68 regular-season games and averaged 18 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists.
Reaves, poised for a major payday this offseason, had a career-high 23.3 points per game with 5.5 assists despite missing six weeks of the season with a calf injury before the late-season oblique strain. In his first full season with the Lakers, Doncic led the league in scoring with 33.5 points per game and made a run for the most valuable player award.
Doncic’s brilliance was most on display during the team’s magical March, during which they went 15-2 and Doncic scored 600 points. With all their stars healthy for the brief moment, the Lakers looked like a postseason dark horse.
“It was pretty amazing,” Doncic said of the winning streak. “The feeling in the locker room was very good. I think every time we stepped on the court, everybody was fighting and most importantly, everybody was having fun.”
The winning streak may have also reimagined what James’ future could look like in purple and gold. Many thought there would be no way he could successfully play alongside Doncic while Reaves, still an ascending star in his own right, could continue to grow.
But James accepted his role as a third option for the first time in his life. He shot 56.2% from the field on just 12.7 attempts per game in March, averaging 18.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and seven assists. The Lakers had their best single-month net rating of the season: plus-9.2 points per 100 possessions.
Then he had no problem reverting back to his role as the primary option, leading the Lakers to an improbable first-round series win over the favored Houston Rockets.
“I was put into some positions I never played in my career,” James said. “Actually in my life. … So to be able to thrive in that role for that period of time and then have to step back into the role that I’ve been accustomed with over my career, over my life … and then just my teammates allowing me to lead them under extreme circumstances, that was pretty cool for me at this stage in my career.”
After making $59.5 million this season, the 41-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent. He could retire, return or relocate.
He has no idea which it’ll be.
“Nobody has any idea what the future holds, and I don’t either,” James said. “I’ll take time to recalibrate and look over the season and see what’s best for my future.”
What’s next?
Now what we’ve all been waiting for: offseason moves.
General manager Rob Pelinka made a point last summer to keep the team’s options open to build out a long-term championship contender around Doncic. This season was always going to be a feeling-out period for the future, and this team could look dramatically different next season.
After James, Reaves’ future is the biggest question for the Lakers. He has a $14.9 million player option he is expected to turn down to enter unrestricted free agency, where he is eligible to sign a massive five-year, $241 million deal with the Lakers or up to four years, $178.5 million with another team. When asked of the upcoming summer, Reaves said he is simply taking it “like day by day.”
Also entering unrestricted free agency, Rui Hachimura was a major postseason winner. The forward was one of the only consistent offensive forces for the Lakers during the playoffs. He shot a scorching 54.9% from three during the postseason, averaging 17.5 points. Since joining the Lakers via a midseason trade in 2023, Hachimura has turned into a certified laser, shooting 41.5% from three compared to his 35.6% clip during his Washington Wizards tenure. His shooting is the exact kind of skill a team built around Doncic needs.
Hachimura said he hasn’t talked to his agent about his future yet. Center Jaxson Hayes, another unrestricted free agent who is so close to Doncic that he became a naturalized Slovenian citizen with hopes to play with the star guard internationally, said he wants to be back with the Lakers.
“I love this group of guys, I love the staff, I love this organization as a whole,” said Hayes, who had a playoff career-high 18 points with five rebounds Monday. “I grew up watching Kobe [Bryant] and I just love to be a Laker. I wear Kobes every day.”
From wearing his idol’s shoes, Hayes, a proud Ohio kid, has shared the locker room with another longtime role model. Hayes moved to Cincinnati in 2003, the year James was drafted, and can’t imagine an NBA without him.
“I’m never thinking about that until it actually happens,” Hayes said. “I’m never thinking about that right now.”
Here’s a breakdown of the Lakers rosters by contract situation entering the offseason, according to Spotrac.com:
Under contract
Luka Doncic ($49.5 million)
Jarred Vanderbilt ($12.4 million)
Jake LaRavia ($6 million)
Dalton Knecht ($4.2 million)
Bronny James ($2.3 million, non-guaranteed)
Adou Thiero ($2.2 million)
Team option
Nick Smith Jr. ($2.5 million)
Player option (June 29 deadline)
Austin Reaves ($14.9 million)
Deandre Ayton ($8.1 million)
Marcus Smart ($5.4 million)
Unrestricted free agent
LeBron James
Rui Hachimura
Luke Kennard
Maxi Kleber
Jaxson Hayes
On tap
1-2-3 Cancun!
The NBA will keep churning with the Lakers now on the outside looking in. The draft, where the Lakers have the 25th pick, will be June 23-24. Free agency negotiations begin June 30 at 3 p.m. Summer League begins for the Lakers in San Francisco (July 3-6) and moves to Las Vegas (July 9-19). Before you know it, we’ll be back for preseason in October.
Favorite thing I ate this week
I already revealed my favorite restaurant in Oklahoma City earlier this season, and this playoff series gave me the chance to get to my second favorite. Although it’s not really a restaurant.
Peret’s Dessert and Coffee Bar is my go-to afternoon/evening sweet treat stop in Oklahoma City. (It’s open until 11 p.m.!) I ordered a ginger lime mousse cake, which was light and fruity, to go with a smooth cappuccino, and the afternoon pick-me-up fueled me for the rest of the day. I would have been back for another round if this series allowed.
The ginger lime mousse cake and cappuccino at Peret’s Dessert and Coffee Bar in Oklahoma City.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
In case you missed it
For the sake of their future, Lakers should bid farewell to LeBron James
‘I don’t know.’ LeBron James unsure if he’ll return for 24th season or retire
Just say no. Lakers should learn their lesson, avoid Giannis Antetokounmpo
Lakers fight to the finish but are eliminated by Thunder
Without Luka Doncic, Thunder series is a lose-lose for Lakers
Why Lakers can’t quit on JJ Redick, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds
Until next time…
As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!
