The Lakers wrap up their preseason tonight against the Sacramento Kings and will gear up for Tuesday night’s regular season opener.
Tonight’s preseason finale will serve as a “dress rehearsal” according to coach JJ Redick. We can expect to get a preview of what the regular season rotations will look like. Adou Therio, Bronny James and LeBron James will be out tonight. That leaves 11 of the Lakers’ 14 players available for tonight’s matchup, including Maxi Kleber who was just cleared earlier today and hopes to play.
The Lakers throughout the preseason have only played their available main rotation players for 2-3 quarters a game and have allowed some of their G-League players to finish out the games. In the small sample sizes where we saw glimpses of the main rotation players, there’s a lot to be optimistic about. But how will their play translate to the regular season without LeBron?
The Lakers are prepared to be without LeBron until mid-November or potentially until early December.
Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves only saw the floor together once this preseason. They combined for 50 points through 3 quarters against the Suns on Tuesday, reassuring how lethal they are offensively. Their leadership will be instrumental in ensuring this team can win games at a high rate, especially now that we know the Lakers and LeBron aren’t going to rush his return.
Another vocal leader L.A. has relied on is Gabe Vincent, who poured in 22 points on 6-11 shooting from three against the Mavs on Wednesday. His production will be crucial for L.A. as well as guys like Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Deandre Ayton and so forth.
From what we’ve seem, it looks like the Lakers are bought into JJ’s system and have fully embraced their roles. Going into the season with clearly defined roles and expectations is a step in the right direction in their pursuit of a championship.
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