JJ Redick Signals Multiple Lakers Starting Jobs Are ‘Up for Grabs’

The start of the NBA preseason is almost a week away, with the Los Angeles Lakers set to face the Sacramento Kings on the road at the Golden 1 Center on Oct. 5.

Ahead of the preseason opener, head coach JJ Redick will put his new-look roster through training camp at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo, with a lot of questions needing to be answered.

JJ Redick: Lakers’ Starting Jobs ‘Up for Grabs’

The biggest storyline heading into training camp next week will be which players will be playing alongside stars Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler in the starting lineup.

During a press conference earlier this week, Redick made it clear that starting jobs will be “up for grabs,” making camp and the ensuing preseason that much more interesting for the new-look Lakers.

“There's starting spots that are up for grabs,” Redick said. “And so I think we're going to have a highly competitive camp. We've been in the gym as a group in small group workouts, and these guys have been playing pickup for the last six weeks, and obviously, five of those days were on the Slovenia trip.

“But it's been a highly competitive gym, and I think we have enough perimeter defense. I think we have plenty of shooting and plenty of ball handling. So to me, you know, this is not a and it never will be a full rebuild around Luka in one offseason.”

With so many new players on the roster, it makes sense to have an open competition for those last two starting spots, as there’s no telling how things will come together over the course of training camp and the five games set to be played in the preseason.

Potential Lakers Starting Five Ahead of Training Camp

There’s no question that Kessler, Reaves and Doncic will be starters, as they are the cornerstones of the storied franchise in the post-LeBron James era in Los Angeles.

Redick made that clear without naming names, but also couldn’t help himself by making a joke, which may or may not rub some people the wrong way.

“I'm pretty confident in three of the spots,” Redick said. “The other two spots will not be two white guys.”

Personally, the final two spots should probably go to veteran newcomers Quentin Grimes, who played with Doncic on the Dallas Mavericks, and Sandro Mamukelashvili, who can stretch the floor and mix it up in the paint.

Although those two are the obvious choices right now, a lot can happen over the course of the next few weeks to determine what Redick’s starting lineup will look like for the regular-season opener against Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21.

A few players that could make things interesting include Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams and Adou Thiero. All three players bring different things to the table, but their effort on defense is what might make them stand out in the coming weeks.

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