The Lakers are still waiting for the debut of their prized off-season acquisition, Walker Kessler, who has been delayed in making his first on-court appearance for “precautionary” reasons relating to a jammed left pinky finger. While the timeline for his return is still unclear, he’s getting closer, Dave McMenamin writes for ESPN.
Kessler said that he went through a full practice on Sunday and “felt great,” but he knows how important he will be to the team this season, and why it’s so necessary to make sure he’s fully ready before he takes the court.
“I think it would be a little different if I played last season, but because I didn’t play last season, I’m like, ‘Ah, I want to play really bad,'” Kessler said. “I’m ready to play, but I trust the staff and I trust the trainers, the coaches and front office, you know? So yeah, just listening to them right now.”
It’s unclear if he’ll be available for Tuesday’s game against the Warriors, but head coach JJ Redick didn’t rule it out.
“A lot can happen in 48 hours,” Redick said. “We’ll be smart with it. See how he feels [Monday]. But not willing to commit to him playing Tuesday or not. He’ll get some live play at some point this week.”
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Sandro Mamukelashvili was one of the Lakers’ big signings over the summer, and he has gotten to work winning over his teammates. He recently had 19 points and four assists in 21 minutes off the bench in a preseason win over the Kings. “He’s got such a high basketball IQ that if he gets the rebound, he should basically play the one,” Austin Reaves said, as relayed by McMenamin (Twitter video link). “*And it doesn’t matter if I’m on the floor, it doesn’t matter if Luka’s on the floor. If he gets it and goes … we trust whatever he has planned.*” Reaves added that the big man got off to a bit of a slow start to training camp because he was worried about doing the right thing every possession, but as he’s gotten more comfortable, he has settled into his game more and more.
Redick spoke on the difficulties in determining who will fill the last two starting spots alongside Kessler, Reaves, and Luka Doncic. “We’ve certainly seen glimpses of the things we like,” he said, per McMenamin (Twitter video link). “It’s hard because we’ve just been a little disjointed with the guys being banged up, so there’s nothing definitive yet.” Through three preseason games, the Lakers have started Adou Thiero, Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, Jake LaRavia, and Bronny James on the wings alongside Reaves and Doncic, as well as Kevon Looney and Mamukelashvili as the center in Kessler’s absence.
After shooting a career-low 32.1% from three last season, LaRavia has gotten off to a hot start to preseason, hitting six of his first 11 threes and 14 of his 22 shots from the field. When asked about it, Redick noted the off-season work the forward had put in to bounce back from last year’s showing. “He’s worked on his shot. There’s a lot of things that we did this summer, and it was really focusing on three very minor tweaks,” Redick said, according to McMenamin (Twitter video link). “*He felt really comfortable with those tweaks, so from there it just comes down to repetition, and from repetition you get confidence.*“