After what felt like a never-ending summer, the Los Angeles Lakers held a press conference featuring Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick on Thursday. It didn't take long for someone to ask Redick who would start this season, pointing out that last year, Redick revealed the starters before training camp began. Redick said it isn't "that important" to him and isn't something he's thought much about.
The second-year head coach noted that the starters he named last season (D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, Anthony Davis) started only eight games together. Redick pointed out that the Lakers used 24 lineups overall.
JJ Redick, when asked about the starting lineup for '25-26, says "it's not that important to me." He says he feels like he has 7-8 starter-level players on the team. He says that his starting lineup to begin last season played eight games together and he used 24 lineups overall
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) September 25, 2025
Redick will let training camp and the preseason decide who will start, but it's a given that LeBron, Luka Dončić, and Deandre Ayton (starting center of the future?) will be starters. Odds are that Reaves will also be a starter.
Some fans believe that Marcus Smart, who signed a one-year deal this offseason, should be in the starting lineup because of his defensive capabilities. It's uncertain how he'll look after spending the majority of the past two seasons on the sideline. Redick did note that Los Angeles could use Smart as a secondary playmaker.
JJ Redick uncertain who will start for the Lakers to begin the season
Fans won't have to wait long to see how Redick will start in LA's first preseason game on Friday, October 3, which is only eight days away. Who starts that game, depending on who is available, won't necessarily be the starters on opening night on October 21, when the Lakers host the Warriors.
Between training camp and the six preseason games that Los Angeles will play, Redick will have plenty of time to decide who should start. He probably wasn't lying when he said it's not that important to him right now, but you can bet it's something he's thought about, if only briefly. It's hard to believe that it hasn't crossed his mind.
Redick doesn't want to get ahead of himself, though, which is understandable. There is no use in naming starters for the sake of it, especially not when you have new faces that you need to figure out how they fit in various lineups. The answer isn't as clear-cut for Redick this season, but even if it were, he'd probably hold off on saying it, anyway.