NBA Notes: Lakers, Luka Doncic, Wizards, Magic, Jamahl Mosley

Doncic, who joined the Lakers this season, faced the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals last year while with the Mavericks — a firsthand perspective Redick believes will prove valuable.

“There are nuances to what teams are trying to do against certain opponents,” Redick said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Having someone like Luka, who’s been in that kind of series against Minnesota, gives us a little more to work with.”

The third-seeded Lakers are using the break between the Play-In Tournament and the start of the best-of-seven series to recover physically and gradually implement their strategy.

“It’s not necessarily going to be everything at once this week,” Redick said. “We’ll have to slow drip, and I think that’s the approach that I think is going to work best for our group.”

Redick said the team’s preparations will ramp up in phases. “Tuesday will be more about us,” he said. “Wednesday, we’ll introduce Minnesota.”

Wizards

Wizards general manager Will Dawkins expressed optimism about the development of his young roster, but acknowledged that the team remains in the early stages of its rebuild.

“I would say that we discovered through a lot of different assessments and lineups that there’s a style of play that, if we’re rowing in the right direction, can be successful,” Dawkins told The Athletic’s Josh Robbins. “And we have the type of players here who were bought into that.”

Washington finished near the bottom of the standings, but Dawkins said he was encouraged by the team’s chemistry and commitment — even as the franchise continues to face a long road toward playoff contention.

“We’re far from where we need to be — still at the ground level,” Dawkins said. “But we feel good about the camaraderie of the group, the work ethic of the group, and the direction we’re headed. But (there’s) a lot of work ahead of us.”

• In case you missed it, the Wizards again fell well short of hitting 50 wins in a season. They haven’t done so since 1979. (Full story)

Magic

Despite a season marked by injuries and lineup changes, the Magic enter the Eastern Conference play-in tournament as the top seed, with a chance to secure the No. 7 spot and a first-round matchup against the Celtics.

“With everything we’ve gone through, with the bodies being down, with guys being in and out of lineups and the adversity that we’ve hit this year, for this group to get to .500, [it] says a lot about their character, their care factor, and the coaching staff,” coach Jamahl Mosley told reporters.

Orlando will face the Hawks on Tuesday. The loser of that game will have to win another to garner the No. 8 seed.

“We’re going to have to put that behind us in this moment and move onto Tuesday and make sure we’re ready to take care of business,” Mosley said.

• Orlando became the first team without a winning record to clinch its division since 1975-76, before the NBA-ABA merger. (Full story)