We got our first look at the Los Angeles Lakers on the court Saturday. What do you make of their first lineup decisions?
The Los Angeles Lakers 2019-20 season officially got underway Saturday with the first practices taking place. With the team heading to China for some preseason games, they began practicing a little earlier than other teams.
These practices are important for the Lakers because of all the new people that are present. There are multiple new players on the roster and a new coaching staff led by Frank Vogel.
Following the first practice, Vogel was upbeat. Everything was described as great by the coach.
Frank Vogel on Day 1: “Great first practice in my mind. Great spirit. Great energy.”
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) September 28, 2019
That sounds like a wonderful way to get things started. People are interested in how things looked, and Mike Trudell also shared the early lineup combinations that were being used.
According to Trudell, the first unit was LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo, Danny Green and JaVale McGee. The second unit was Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Avery Bradley, Jared Dudley and Dwight Howard. Quinn Cook and Troy Daniels were worked in as well.
At the end of the first practice, here are the units — 1st: Rondo/Green/LeBron/AD/McGee; 2nd: Caruso/Bradley/KCP/Dudley/Howard with Cook and Daniels mixed in. Kuzma (stress reaction) is not practicing. These groupings could change daily, of course.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) September 28, 2019
What should we make of these early lineup combinations? Well, for starters, they need to be taken with a grain of salt.
Kyle Kuzma has not been cleared to play yet because of a stress reaction in his left ankle. He will underdog an MRI when the team returns from China, but until then, he won’t be on the court. Until he returns to the court, we won’t get a true idea for how Vogel may run his lineups, but there are other takeaways from this first practice.
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Seeing Rondo with the first unit, which can be assumed as the starting five since James and Davis is in it, is surprising. There were rumors earlier in the month that Rondo could be the odd man out of the point guard rotation. At least for now, those rumors look like they won’t come to fruition, as the point guard pecking order would look to be Rondo, Caruso, Bradley, Cook.
A reason for Rondo being with the first team could be his veteran status and experience playing alongside James and Davis. Rondo is the only player on the roster that has played with both of them before this season, so that could give him a leg up in the early going.
It will be interesting to see what patterns start to develop when the teams are changed. Davis and James should play together extensively as they are the two most important players on the team. Green is the only other player that is probably locked into a starting role as well.
Without Kuzma, the lack of wing depth is also apparent on the roster. They could be small on the wing, which could, in part, explain why they would like to add Andre Iguodala to the mix so badly. Iguodala would give the team a lot of versatility as he can fill a number of roles on the court depending on who is playing alongside him.
It is still early to make any concrete assessments, but these early lineups are worth taking notice of. It would not be a surprise if they are changed when the team takes the court for their next set of scrimmages.