So much for the Lakers being full strength for the first time this season.
While Luka Dončić and Marcus Smart look set to make their preseason debuts against the Suns, the Lakers will be without four other
rotation players. The team announced during shootaround on Tuesday that Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaxson Hayes would all be out.
With the Lakers having a back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday, it’s not a shock to see players resting. It wouldn’t be a surprise, either, to see most, if not all, of these players playing on Wednesday and a chunk of players active on Tuesday not play. It really feels like the only potential full-squad warm-up we’ll get may be on Friday in the preseason finale.
That leaves the Lakers pretty barren when it comes to their rotation. As things stand, the team will likely start Luka, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton and…Jake LaRavia and Dalton Knecht? Without Rui, Vando and LeBron James, there aren’t many forwards left on the roster. That’s also assuming Reaves plays after exiting Sunday’s game with an injury.
The good news is that, at the very least, it appears Luka and Ayton will get some in-game reps as pick-and-roll partners, which is probably the most important part of this. But it’ll be a pretty barren roster outside of that.
There will likely be a lot of Bronny James, Nick Smith Jr., Christian Koloko and RJ Davis. It also likely means there’s going to be a fair amount of Luka playing since someone has to play the minutes.
But for fans hoping to see something close to a full team for the first time this preseason, you’ll have to wait a bit longer.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on BlueSky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
