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The Lakers enter training camp with coach JJ Redick feeling “pretty confident” in three of the five spots.
Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler will make up 60% of the first unit as the team’s “Big Three”.
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As for the final two starters?
Those are up for grabs.
Redick doesn’t know who will fill those slots, but was confident in making a declaration with what won’t happen with the roster.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick had jokes about the state of his roster entering the 2026-27 NBA season. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“The other two spots will not be two white guys,” Redick quipped during Thursday’s joint media availability with general manager Rob Pelinka. “Those are the two things that’s not changing.”
So that counts out the final two starters being a combination of Jake LaRavia, Sandro Mamukelashvili and/or Dalton Knecht.
But that also leaves room for at least one of them to join the first unit.
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Redick’s comment came after an offseason in which there were several jokes about the racial breakdown of the Lakers’ 2026-27 roster, which includes six white players.
Matt Barnes, the former Lakers forward and current “All the Smoke” co-host, joined in on the jokes, saying to the California Post in an exclusive interview earlier in September, “They’re calling them the ‘Snowtime Lakers’ – a play on the Lakers’ successful “Showtime” era.
But even with Redick joking about how his team’s starting lineup won’t look, there are still plenty of options for how the first unit will be around Doncic, Reaves and Kessler.
LaRavia and Mamukelashvili will compete for a starting spot – albeit it sounds like only one of them could actually earn the nod.
Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, left, and head coach JJ Redick spoke with the media Thursday for the first time since last season ended. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic are guaranteed starters. Getty Images
Newcomers Quentin Grimes, Matissa Thybulle and Ziaire Williams will also factor into the starting lineup competition.
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With nine new players on the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lakers-coach-drops-hilarious-quip-223421514.html
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Publish date : 2026-09-24 22:34:00
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