[McMen] JJ Redick says until Austin Reaves is back, which could occur as soon as Cleveland, the Lakers are going to stay with its starting lineup of LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart

17 comments

  1. I know Rui didn’t want to come of the bench. But I think he even has 6th man of the year potential.

    He could have more touches with the 2nd unit, and we desperately need bench scoring

  2. It really sucks he’s been out so long. We badly need some sort of consistency in the starting lineup. Might already be too late.

  3. This is the reality:

    Luka – Slow

    LeBron – Old

    Austin – Slow

    When your 3 best players are all slow/old, the 2 remaining starting spots have to go to athletic guys who can haul ass. Ayton is slow due to his low motor. LaRavia doesn’t have the foot speed. Smart is reasonably fast but years past his prime. We need speed. Otherwise, less skilled but younger teams are going to turn every game into a track meet.

  4. LETS GOOOOO. LAKERS 2026 CHAMPS. SO MANY INJURIES AND UNSTABLE TEAMS. THERES A CHANCE

  8. Its probably to ease him back into playing. Don’t want him injuring his calf again right when he comes back.

  9. He’s established a chemistry, and doesnt want any disruption until he gets Austin back, which is a more natural return.

  10. Starting is overrated.

    Closing is where the you see who’s most important on the team.

  12. That was the obvious choice after a handful of games. Rui is a good scorer, but you can’t put him with Reaves + Luka and have a good defense that can slow down GOOD teams.

    It’s easier to use him as the scoring weapon that he can be, when you don’t already have 3 on the same lineups.

    I said it 2 months ago: Rui should always play with Reaves, and sometime with Bron, when he is at the 5. Rui is only a passable defender at one position – the 4. He has been doing good on the 3 these last two games, but I don’t expect him to keep the same level of effort for the rest of the season. He just lacks the defensive motor.

  14. When AR comes back, I’d like to see him come off the bench at first. Good way to both manage his minutes after an injury and test out how LAL looks like with different rotations. If the Spurs could do it with Wemby, LAL can do it with AR.

    And if somehow LAL starts playing better with AR starting on the bench, that will be valuable information to use going forward in trade/rotation decisions.

Leave a Reply