The Los Angeles Lakers have had a quiet, but very intentional, start to free agency. While other teams were throwing around massive contracts, the Lakers made a calculated, under-the-radar move, signing former Sacramento Kings wing Jake LaRavia to a two-year, $12 million deal. On the surface, it’s a solid depth signing. But in his first interview as a Laker, LaRavia pulled back the curtain, revealing not only his own excitement about joining the purple and gold, but also the specific plan new head coach JJ Redick has for him and the team’s dynamic moving forward.
For the 23-year-old LaRavia, the decision to sign with the Lakers was all about one thing: fit. “I was pretty much just going for the team where I felt I would best fit,” he said in his introductory press conference. “Just with the roster currently and, you know, looking into the future… where I can grow best as a player.” And for a versatile, high-IQ wing, playing alongside two of the best playmakers in the history of the game was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“Again, this was the spot,” he explained. “You know, I’m playing with guys like, like I said, Luka and LeBron that, you know, see the court so much differently than a lot of guys in the NBA and I think I complement those type of players, those high IQ guys. Just being able to space the floor, you know, cutting. Um, I feel like I’m just going to get so many easy buckets playing with these guys.”
He even admitted that he’s already envisioned what it will be like. “I think they’re just going to—I think they’re going to make my life easy,” he said. “They have so much gravitational pull on the court and, uh, I’m just going to have like wide-open threes or wide-open layups.”
As for his new head coach, JJ Redick, LaRavia offered some early insights into their conversations. “We were kind of just talking about my role on the team, where he sees me on the court. He knows I’m a high IQ player, can shoot the ball. He knows that I can complement the players like Luka and LeBron very well. And then also on that defensive side, just being able to take that matchup, because like I said, I think that’s really an area where I’ve grown a lot.”
(This is a developing story…)
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