No Lakers Among NBA Awards Finalists. Does Season Validate JJ Redick and Rob Pelinka?

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4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2026

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The NBA released its list of finalists for postseason awards - the top three vote-getters in each category - and there were no Lakers among any of them. No real surprise, there, and someone like Luka Dončić is widely expected to finish fourth in MVP (no dishonor there). It wouldn't surprise to see JJ Redick finish among the top 5-7 in Coach of the Year balloting, either. That, though, is a bit of an open question given how the team's season has been perceived. Even while they were winning early, many saw the Lakers as frauds. At the same time, they consistently outperformed projections, even while battling significant and overlapping injuries. So lots going on. And then there's the question of Rob Pelinka. Executive of the Year is a different deal than the postseason awards. Pelinka won't win for a variety of reasons, but it's reasonable to ask whether the work done this year should be validated. Two moves were particularly important in Game 1 - the trade deadline acquisition of Luke Kennard in exchange for Gabe Vincent, and then last summer's decision to let Dorian Finney-Smith walk and use a chunk of his money to sign Jake LaRavia. LaRavia played in all 82 games and was a positive contributor. DFS had a terrible first season in Houston, and was a DNP-CD in Game 1. So even if questions remain about Pelinka's skill overall as an executive, does this year go down as a win for him? HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 'Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! 5-Hour ENERGYGet candy-flavored chaos with Fruity Rainbow 5-hour ENERGY®️ Shots - available online at https://5hourENERGY.com or Amazon PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBA IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel.Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get two-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins.Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started — Play Your Game. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Transcript

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0:00.0	No love for the Lakers on the list of postseason award finalists,
0:03.3	but does game one at least validate the work of JJ Reddick and Rob Polinka?
0:07.4	That's next.
0:13.9	You are Locked-on Lakers.
0:16.2	Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.
0:25.1	Thanks to everybody for stopping my Lockdown Lakers, Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kaminetsky,
0:29.2	plenty to unpack over the course of this episode. But first, I want to let people know that
0:34.6	today's episode is brought to you by Fandul.
0:39.2	Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $250 in bonus bets if that first bet wins.
0:44.6	Head to Fanduel.com to get started.
0:46.6	So late Andy on Sunday, the NBA released its list of postseason award finalists.
0:55.5	Not surprisingly, no love there for any Lakers.
1:00.3	They're Naria Laker on the list for these seven awards that will be handed out,
1:05.2	whether that's Clutch Player of the Year, DPOI, Most Improved MVP rookie of the year. Really no candidates for the Lakers in that one.
1:14.2	Six-man NBA coach of the year. No Lakers, Andy. Not terribly surprising. And just as a preface to
1:22.1	this entire conversation, when Brian and I explain a lot of why we think what happened took place,
1:31.2	Brian and I are not voters in this.
1:34.3	Therefore, our opinions in a lot of ways other than hopefully providing you something
1:39.8	provocative to think about, maybe a different way of looking at things, entertainment,
1:44.5	whatever, they don't mean Jack Bleep in terms of who ends up. provocative to think about, maybe a different way of looking at things, entertainment, whatever.
1:51.8	They don't mean Jack Bleep in terms of who ends up winning, not winning, finalists, whatever.
2:01.6	Whether you agree with what Brian and I say or not, it had precisely zero to do with any of the results. I think that, you know, obviously at this point, Luca wasn't really expected, I think, to be a finalist.
	...

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