When the Lakers made the deal for Luka Dončić, it came at the sacrifice of depth. The team traded away two starters and, while they got a generational superstar, neither Maxi Kleber nor Markieff Morris factored into the rotation.
The result has been the purple and gold walking a tightrope, relying on the health of multiple players to keep the ship afloat this season. And while that had largely happened in recent weeks, the dam broke in the last week.
Multi-week injuries to LeBron James and Rui Hachimura paired with short-term injuries to Jaxson Hayes and Dorian Finney-Smith have left the Lakers severely undermanned. That culminated in a patchwork starting lineup and rotation against the Nets on Monday.
Hopefully, the team can start adding bodies rather than seeing them taken away. It has, however, answered some questions about who the Lakers can trust moving forward.
So, let’s dive into the latest rotation trust level. For posterity's sake, we’ll consider the starting lineup the same as if everyone was healthy, simply because there are too many moving pieces otherwise.
Starting lineup: Luka Dončić, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes
Dalton Knecht
What a bounce-back couple of weeks for Knecht, who was mired in a months-long slump. Since our last look at the rotation, a span of six games, Knecht has shot 54.4% from the field and 44.4% from the 3-point line.
He’s very much earned his way back into the rotation and should be getting minutes moving forward.
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How much trust do you have in Dalton Knecht?
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Gabe Vincent
After spending a couple weeks slumping as well, Vincent has broken out in a huge way. He hit some monster shots in the comeback win over the Knicks, then had arguably his best game as a Laker against the Nets.
He certainly stepped up to the plate in those contests. It was starting to creep to the point where Vincent was going to need to have his minutes cut, but he has put that idea way into the dirt.
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How much trust do you have in Gabe Vincent?
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Jarred Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt’s impact can’t really be measured in his stats. Instead, his plus-minus of +39 is the best on the team over the last six games. That feels like a good representation of what he’s bringing to the floor.
Interestingly, his minutes have gone up significantly in the last two games. He played 29 minutes against Boston and 27 against Brooklyn. It certainly seems like he has no restrictions now.
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How much trust do you have in Jarred Vanderbilt?
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Trey Jemison III
I think we’ve seen the point of diminishing returns on Trey Jemison over the last week. The game looked to have been moving a bit too fast for him against both the Knicks and Celtics.
Then, against the Nets, he showed a lot of limitations as well. He’s someone who isn’t going to be able to create for himself and I think he struggles when his role expands beyond being the hustle guy. He benefits from having more stars and threats around him and without those he’s struggling.
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How much trust do you have in Trey Jemison III?
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Dorian Finney-Smith
DFS moved into the starter role when Hachimura went down, but it hasn’t been seamless. Over the last 10 days, he’s shooting 7-25 from the 3-point line and 14-38 overall. While he can still be a positive contributor without scoring, it would help if he could start knocking down 3-pointers again.
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How much trust do you have in Dorian Finney-Smith?
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Jordan Goodwin
While he missed a chunk of time, Goodwin bounced back in a big way on Monday against the Nets. He had the best game of his career and certainly did his part. He’s going to remain in the rotation and he deserves to. He makes so many winning plays and is knocking down timely shots, too.
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How much trust do you have in Jordan Goodwin?
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You can follow Jacob on Twitter at@JacobRude or on Bluesky at@jacobrude.bsky.social.