Oct 6, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick passes the ball to the referee during the first quarter of the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
Oct 6, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick passes the ball to the referee during the first quarter of the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
The Lakers are set to face the Warriors twice in the next three games, once in the preseason and again on the regular-season opener in less than two weeks. They have experimented with three different starting lineups in each of their last preseason games amid the injury issues involving Walker Kessler and Austin Reaves.
As a result, uncertainty remains about who the Lakers will start on opening night. The two forwards need to be fixed, since the Lakers have clearly built their roster around the big-three core of Luka Doncic, Reaves, and Kessler.
After a recent practice ahead of the preseason matchup against the Warriors, head coach JJ Redick spoke to the media about whether the coaching staff had finalized the remaining starters for the regular season’s opening night.
“We’ve certainly seen glimpses of the things we like. It’s hard because we’ve just been a little disjointed with the guys being banged up, so there’s nothing definitive yet,” Redick admitted.
The Lakers still haven’t seen Walker Kessler hit the court for the first time as he is dealing with a finger injury, while Austin Reaves also missed two of the three games with a tweaked ankle.
So the Lakers haven’t even had a chance to play their big three together, let alone experiment with a starting lineup they could use on opening night.
On paper, Quentin Grimes and Sandro Mamukelashvili are expected to be the main favorites to start. Still, Jake LaRavia is also a dark horse for a starting spot, especially after JJ Redick spoke about his value to the team during this preseason stretch.
“Well, he’s worked on his shot. I mean, there’s a lot of things we did this summer, and we were really focusing on three very minor tweaks. From there, he felt really comfortable with those tweaks, so it just comes down to repetition. From repetition, you get confidence.”
“That’s just the way shooting works: form, repetition, confidence. It’s hard to have confidence without the first two. It’s hard to have good repetitions if your form sucks. It’s not that his form sucked. His form had a really good base, but he just made small tweaks.”
“I think he’s shot the ball really well in practice and during our live play. We’ve tracked all the stats throughout every practice we’ve had so far. He’s shot it well, and he’s shot it well in games. So, he’s in a great place offensively. Then you add in all the stuff he does, the intangible stuff defensively, and 50-50 balls, all that stuff. He’s a really valuable player,” JJ Redick said after the recent practice about LaRavia.
So far this preseason, Jake LaRavia has averaged 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, while shooting 14-for-22 from the field (63.7% FG) and 6-11 from three-point range (54.5% FG) in three games combined.
Moreover, other promising defensive wings like Matisse Thybulle and Jarred Vanderbilt will also be in the mix for potential starters.
Earlier this season, Redick quipped that the Lakers’ remaining starters beyond their big three wouldn’t be ‘white guys.’ Still, although unlikely, we could see both Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jake LaRavia in the starting lineup this season.
Nothing is set in stone yet; it’s all a line in the sand. Luckily, all these players have a chance to face their opening-night opponent in the upcoming preseason game (vs. the Warriors) on October 13. This will give the Lakers’ coaching staff a trial run to see how specific matchups can benefit them.
It will certainly be interesting to see which two wings get the nod in the starting lineup with the Lakers’ big three on opening night (vs. the Warriors, October 21).