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.”

But for LaRavia, it’s about more than just offense. “I think defensively, that’s been my main focus since I got to the NBA,” he explained. “My rookie year, I was the guy where, you know, playing against Luka even, he’s the one calling me up trying to get me switched onto him. So I take pride in my defense now especially—taking the toughest matchup or anything like that.” And now, alongside one of the game’s greatest minds in LeBron James, LaRavia wants to learn everything he can.

While Jake LaRavia’s signing was a quiet, strategic move, the Lakers’ other big offseason addition, Deandre Ayton, arrived with a bang

While Jake LaRavia joins the Fold, Deandre Ayton’s arrival poses a bigger question

And at his own introductory press conference, the former No. 1 overall pick made it clear that he’s heard the criticism, and he’s ready to prove his doubters wrong. After a tumultuous few years that saw him traded from Phoenix and bought out by Portland, Deandre Ayton is ready to play for purple and gold.

“It fuels me,” Ayton said of the criticism. “It fuels me up completely. And it’s a different type of drive that I’ve been wanting to express for a long time. I think this is the perfect timing, here in the purple and gold. And it’s a platform that I cannot run from.” He knows that the questions about his motor and his consistency are fair, but he’s determined to change the narrative. “I’ve just been trying to put in as much work as I possibly can,” he said. “When I’m on the floor, I want to really just show the world and prove to everybody that I am a winner.”

Like LaRavia, Ayton is also excited about the prospect of playing with LeBron and Luka. “They both average about nine assists over their career span, and just the type of players they create with their teammates,” he said. “They turn them into superstars, they make them bigger than their roles… Just seeing that and finally getting the chance to go in and experience that would be big for me. Just getting me back to my full form of how I used to play.”

But while Ayton is saying all the right things, there are real concerns about how his laid-back personality will mesh with his detail-oriented new head coach. On a recent episode of the “Game Theory Podcast,” analyst Sam Vecenie put it bluntly: “JJ seems a bit high-strung… And DeAndre Ayton very rarely seems like that is the case.” He noted that Ayton’s on-court “eccentricities”—the “little half-roll thing,” the questionable defensive rotations—are the exact kinds of things that could drive a coach like Redick crazy. And yet, this high-pressure situation might be exactly what Ayton needs. As his co-host Bryce Simon noted, Ayton has been “dumped by two franchises and is basically playing on a prove-it deal… and that’s going to create a sense of urgency.”

It’s a fascinating dynamic for the new-look Lakers. It’s also the first major test for JJ Redick and his new coaching staff. Can they successfully integrate these two new, but very important, new pieces? The future of the Lakers, and their championship aspirations, may just depend on it.