LAS VEGAS — There is work to do, and no one stresses that more than Darvin Ham.

Part of the reason Ham has not coached Summer League is to be more involved in acquiring personnel. But though the Lakers’ moves have widely been considered modest so far, Ham was brimming with enthusiasm for a roster he thinks will be better equipped to play to his vision.

By the end of the Frank Vogel era last season, the Lakers and their coach seemed far apart: General manager Rob Pelinka brought in a roster of veterans who would go on to underachieve, and either traded some key role players or let them walk in free agency. Since Ham took over, however, he’s touted just how together he, Pelinka and team governor Jeanie Buss have been.

“Coming from Milwaukee, I’ve seen vertical alignment between ownership, front office, head coach, rest of the coaching staff,” he said. “And the one thing that we came into this situation – Rob and I both, as well as Jeanie – we need to get younger, we need to get more athletic, we need to get more shooting. And it’s so far so good in my opinion.”

While there’s still great uncertainty around what the Lakers will look like next season with trade rumors roiling around Russell Westbrook among others, Ham focused on the incoming crop: Lonnie Walker IV, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Troy Brown Jr., Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant. All five are younger than 30, as opposed to last year’s acquisitions, which were largely on the other side of the NBA’s proverbial hill.

The free agents have talked about Ham’s desire to play faster, which Ham himself thinks might trickle up from the youth to the veterans from an offense that got stodgy last season.

“We’re not just throwing the ball at LeBron, throwing it at Russ. ‘Here AD, take it,’” he said. “Providing that space, providing that speed, getting stops on the defensive end, turning those into easy transition buckets or open looks and early offense I think will, man, pay big dividends in terms of keeping our team healthy, keeping our team united and together, and lightening the load so we get stronger as the season gets longer.”

The shooting element remains a question. While the Lakers have been tied to Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving, Indiana’s Buddy Hield and Houston’s Eric Gordon – all talented, proven shooters – the players they return and just signed are largely an unimpressive group from beyond the arc. Several of the new free agents have strong individual shooting seasons from their résumés, but Brown is the only one who shot better than 35% on threes last season.

That would seem to undermine Ham’s vision of a four-out, one-in offense designed to create the maximum possible space for the stars to weave inside to score or make plays. But Ham expressed confidence that his coaching staff, which is heavy on player development backgrounds, can help squeeze the most out of his shooters.

“There’s various circumstances as to why people have a dip in shooting,” he said. “Sometimes it’s injury-related, sometimes it’s minutes, who you’re out on the floor with, how many touches. So only thing we’re worried about is what we’re doing going forward, and we feel we’ve got a good group – a good young group of free agents that’s gonna come in and make an impact.”

Some of that spacing, Ham said, should come from Bryant, who was becoming a serviceable stretch center before tearing an ACL in January 2021. He also mentioned Walker as someone the Lakers believe will be a three-level scorer with his ability to take off to the hoop, but also improve his shooting range (he hit better than 36% after the All-Star break).

Talen Horton-Tucker, who attended Friday night’s Summer League game, is another current player who has been reported as a potential trade chip going back to February at the trade deadline. But if he’s back with the Lakers this season, Ham posited his development as a critical factor for the Lakers.

“I feel thrilled to be able to coach him because he’s a guy you can move around different places,” he said. “If you want to play big, you can use him. He can initiate your offense. If you want to play small, he can play the 4. He’s strong enough, he’s long enough to be able to get hits and get rebounds and get stops on the defensive end.”

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What Ham seemed to value the most from his remade roster is the chip on everyone’s shoulder. By scouring the cheaper end of the free-agent market for younger talent, the Lakers wound up with a few former first-round picks who are still looking to prove themselves – searching for the kind of establishing season that Malik Monk had as a Laker last year. Ham believes that will translate into a competitive energy that will help him turn the franchise around.

“Guys are hungry and they look up to our big three and they really want to do everything in their power and their energy level to come out and help them,” he said. “Just compete, compete, compete, compete. That’s what it’s all about.”