What the Lakers’ final preseason game revealed about their Week 1 rotation

No NBA franchise played more preseason games than the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that had training camp at home but wound up having games in five municipalities (Palm Desert, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas) before finally wrapping things up in downtown Los Angeles on Friday night.

After the Sacramento Kings edged the Lakers 117-116, the Lakers finished the preseason 1-5. Only the Miami Heat (0-6) were worse.

But the scores and records don’t matter. What matters at this time of the year is who starts, who is in the rotation, who won’t play and who won’t make the team. Health is a major factor, and it obviously helps to play well.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, they didn’t make it through this month healthy. For the first time in his career, LeBron James did not appear in a preseason game. Sciatica, the condition that has kept him off the court in recent weeks, will also prevent James from playing in his team’s regular-season opener — another first for James in his 23 years in the league.

The Lakers already wanted to have competition for a starting role, unlike this time last year, when head coach JJ Redick declared that James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell would begin the season as starters; Redick broke that lineup apart after the seventh game of the season.

Redick was coy all night about what Friday night’s starting lineup would mean for the regular season, which begins for the Lakers on Tuesday at home against the Golden State Warriors. Before the game, Redick declined to name his starters and had the following exchange with the media:

Question: … With LeBron out, have you decided how you’re gonna start with that spot, and would that be consistent tonight versus the opener?

Redick: Maybe!

Question: Is that something you’d like to share, or say?

Redick: No.

Question: What would be the advantage to starting a lineup tonight in the dress rehearsal and a different one on Tuesday?

Redick: I don’t understand the question.

Question: What would be the advantage …

Redick: I don’t know. I don’t know why I would do that.

Question: You don’t know?

Redick: Yeah.

Question: So the clue would be, this is the group you’re going to use on Tuesday.

Redick: Maybe!

An hour later, Gabe Vincent was revealed to be Redick’s fifth starter alongside Luka Dončić, Reaves, Hachimura and center Deandre Ayton. Not Jarred Vanderbilt, who would have given the Lakers plus size in the lineup. Not Marcus Smart, who would have given the Lakers the reputation of defensive playmaking. And not Jake LaRavia, the youngest and arguably most skilled of the competitors.

Vincent had a relatively significant advantage that led to his appointment: he played the best out of all the options. No Laker made more 3s than Vincent this preseason, as he added four more makes against the Kings to bring his final total to 15-of-27, for a scorching 55.6 percent accuracy rate. Vanderbilt, Smart and LaRavia combined to make only 7-of-34 3s this preseason, a woeful 20.6 percent.

That was the true separator, as all four players have some on-ball viability and defensive attributes that will keep them in the rotation. Vincent had a 12:6 assist-turnover ratio in four games this preseason; Vanderbilt, Smart and LaRavia combined for a 28:14 assist-turnover ratio. Vanderbilt, Smart and LaRavia are all much bigger than Vincent, but the Lakers already have a 6-foot-5 shooting guard they would prefer to hide (Reaves) and a 6-foot-8 point guard who doesn’t guard point guards (Dončić) to go with a forward (Hachimura) and a center (Ayton). At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Vincent is adequately sized to defend the point of attack in the back court while not compromising the Lakers’ offense with an inability or unwillingness to shoot.

“I don’t know anything about who I’m gonna be starting all season, because again, there’s injuries, there’s things that happen throughout a year,” Redick said postgame Friday about his starting lineup. “I have a pretty good idea who is going to start Game One. After that, I don’t. But I do think in that lineup, there’s a lot of shooting around Luka and DA. And Gabe is another ball handler, another tough defender. I think he fits in well. But you have to take a look at every matchup we play against and have to make a decision there.”

Even if they don’t start, Friday night’s dress rehearsal made it clear that Vanderbilt, Smart and LaRavia would be in the rotation for Week 1. All three started at least one preseason game, as Redick started six unique lineups. Vanderbilt should settle in as the backup power forward who gets some small forward minutes; all of Vanderbilt’s minutes Friday night were with a center on the floor. Smart will be the backup “point guard,” though Smart was synced with at least one of Dončić or Reaves for every lineup Friday night except his final four possessions (a lineup that featured Vanderbilt, LaRavia, Maxi Kleber and Dalton Knecht). LaRavia is the backup small forward, though he started preseason games at shooting guard and power forward as well.

A prospective nine-man rotation was completed by backup center Jaxson Hayes on Friday. Unfortunately, Hayes did not play in the second half due to a right wrist contusion suffered when he put Kings undrafted rookie center Dylan Cardwell through the basket.

Redick started ten players this preseason. The only one of those ten players who did not play in the first three quarters Friday was Knecht, who led the Lakers in preseason minutes with 154, 23 more than anyone else. Knecht is the tenth man and the backup shooting guard in a rotation missing James. But Knecht’s shot was off this month, as he made only 32 percent from the field, 23.5 percent from 3 (8-of-34) and 70.6 percent on free throws.

Hayes’ injury allowed Kleber to play in his first preseason game since 2023, and he made his appearance in the third quarter while playing center next to Dončić, Reaves, Smart and Vanderbilt. Kleber didn’t play power forward until the final 4:11, when Redick chose to close the preseason with a lineup of LaRavia, Knecht, Kleber and two-way contracts Christian Koloko at center and Nick Smith Jr. at point guard.

Rounding out the expected roster are the players who joined James on the sidelines: 2024 second-round pick Bronny James (ankle) and 2025 second-round pick Adou Thiero (knee) did not play, along with two-way contract Chris Mañon (ankle). Thiero and Mañon missed the entire preseason.

Here’s a depth chart for the Lakers going into Week 1 that excludes RJ Davis, Nate Williams, Anton Watson and Augustas Marčiulionis:

“That’s the breaks,” Redick said while describing the injuries affecting the roster, and how important two-way contracts may be. “They’re going to be important throughout the year, not just to start the season. We saw the value of our two-ways last year. I mean, if you paid attention to the Lakers last year, Koloko and (Trey) Jemison and obviously Goody (Jordan Goodwin) were massive for us and helped us turn the season around, and they provided a lot of positive things for us.”

Redick has a different perspective on how the ebbs and flows of a season can change. He’s the first head coach who will have to wait for James to get healthy to join his team. The ups and downs of this preseason gave him an opportunity to prepare to navigate that. Vincent emerged as a starting option, and it’s clear who should play based on who played well. That little bit of clarity will take the Lakers into the regular season.

“We consistently either played one short rotation in the third quarter outside of tonight, one short rotation in the third quarter, and sometimes not played guys at the end of the night or didn’t play guys,” Redick said of his preseason lineup management. “I think our first half numbers have been great in terms of net rating and all that stuff. So we’re getting off to good starts and then there’s just a lot of lineups that probably won’t play a single second together this season in a second half. That’s just the reality.”