Lakers vs Warriors California Classic preview: and Game Thread The preseason begins

This year’s summer Lakers team will be headlined by Dalton Knecht and Bronny James Jr., with the team set to kick off on Saturday.

The Lakers will participate in the annual California Classic tournament, taking place July 5-8. They will first go up against the Golden State Warriors, who are hosting this summer’s exhibition games.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors

When: 3:30 p.m. PT, July 5

Where: Chase Center

Watch: ESPN, Spectrum Sportsnet

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Before flying out for Las Vegas Summer League, the Lakers usually get a teaser by competing at the California Classic games, which is now in its seventh year. Although consisting of only four teams this year, the contest remains a great opportunity to assess how this team will look for the next few weeks.

Considering that this year’s summer Lakers is headlined by sophomores Dalton Knecht and Bronny James Jr., it’s fair to expect a more competitive and experienced squad at least compared to last year, when they went winless during the California Classic. It’ll be exciting to witness how much Knecht and James have developed in a span of a year. Expect them to lead the team for most of the summer.

What’s not going to be exciting is missing out on the opportunity to see the team’s No. 36 pick, Adou Thiero, compete this summer as he continues to recover from a left knee injury. It was a bummer to find out that the rookie won’t be suiting up, but at least he’s in the final stages of his recovery and should be fully cleared by training camp.

Despite the unfortunate absence of Thiero, this Lakers team should still be viewed as a talented bunch with a couple of familiar faces, like two-way center Trey Jemison III and former two-way forward Cole Swider. It’ll be nice to see Jemison make his presence felt as well as Swider, who has been competing in these summer games since 2022.

Another player to look out for is Eric Dixon, who is also signed under a two-way contract with the Lakers.

Aside from the aforementioned names, this time of the year is always a fun way to see who in the roster stands out and could perhaps be considered the next undrafted gem discovered by the Lakers.

That said, as fans, the hope is for the team to just have an overall productive and fun summer league. Wins obviously don’t matter as much, but it would still be nice to see it happen, along with the players’ development. Let’s see if the Lakers can make this summer an eventful and memorable one as the preseason begins on Saturday.

Notes and Updates

• The summer Lakers squad will be coached by Beau Levesque in the California Classic and then by Lindsey Harding in Las Vegas. Both are assistant coaches under JJ Redick’s staff.
• To learn more about this team’s roster, read all about that here.
• The Warriors will also field a strong team for the California Classic tournament. Look out for two of their draft picks in Alex Toohey and Will Richard.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.