What do Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Jake LaRavia all have in common? They are all, theoretically, the players competing to secure the fifth starter position for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Smart and Hachimura are certainly the two who have gotten the most attention for that prominent positional battle. However, the Vanderbilt and LaRavia should not be discounted altogether.
If the situation were to be narrowed down to just the first two, many have taken issue with the idea of Smart getting the starting nod for a rather silly reason. They see three guards in the starting lineup with him, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves.
Positions matter far less in modern basketball than they did a decade or two ago. This argument received some odd support in the form of the 2025-26 NBA GM Survey.
Doncic, who is considered a point guard to many, came second in the voting for the best player at that position. The NBA GMs then turned right back around and voted him the best small forward in the league. What does that mean? Simply put, it's 2025, people. Positionless basketball dominates the NBA and letting the traditional way of thinking affect lineup decision would be malpractice.
Lakers could start Doncic, Reaves, and Smart without hesitation
The NBA nowadays is not about positions. It is about skill sets.
Doncic works great at the lead guard spot. The Lakers superstar also slots seamlessly into small forward. That designation does not change the responsibilities on the court for one of the best players in the NBA.
Whether Doncic is listed as a starting guard or a starting forward, the five-time All-NBA First Team member will be leading the offense with the ball in his hands. That much is obvious and simple to grasp.
If JJ Redick and company land on the decision to start Smart, it will be about what his skill set brings to the main group that begins ball games. When healthy and dialed in, the Lakers guard has been a tenacious on-ball defender. The former Defensive Player of the Year would be asked to challenge the point of attack on that end.
Having someone who can reliably execute that task was something the Lakers were clearly missing from the defenders on their team last season. Redick could certainly get those skills out of a revamped Vanderbilt too, but that does not change the main point here.
This decision is about fit. It is not about what a sheet of paper classifies a player as. Redick will certainly not be shying away from any of his options, because of the latter.