LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick has made it clear he doesn’t want to have too many different starting lineups, barring injuries necessitating change.
But with rookie wing Dalton Knecht’s recent hot streak as a starter in light of Rui Hachimura missing his fourth consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle on Thursday night against Orlando, Redick has considered his options for when Hachimura returns to the floor.
Redick has previously said the team hopes Hachimura, a starter in the 10 games he has played this season, and backup center Jaxson Hayes (sprained right ankle) would return this week.
The Lakers host the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night to conclude a three-game homestand before back-to-back road games against the Phoenix Suns (Tuesday) and San Antonio Spurs (Wednesday).
They started Austin Reaves, Knecht, Cam Reddish, LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the second consecutive game against the Magic and the third time this season, with the Lakers winning the previous two games with that lineup. The starting lineup with Hachimura in Knecht’s spot went 3-0 before Hachimura’s injury.
“There’s consideration, but there’s also consideration for what that does to the group,” Redick said before Thursday’s game. “And we’ve certainly had conversations about what it might look like when Rui is back in the lineup. I would say right now, there’s no definitive decision.
“My expectation is that Rui would stay in the starting lineup. He’s been awesome for us and I think for the group, whatever role as a starter – I know I talked about that not being a role – but whatever designation Dalton has, whether he’s coming off of the bench or as a starter, I don’t think his role changes at all. And I think for him mentally, there’s no effect to that. He’s just going to be the same guy. We have to, as a coaching staff, we have to be cognizant about getting him longer stretches on the court.”
Knecht entered Thursday averaging 24.3 points on 67.3% shooting (67.7% from 3-point range) and 4.3 rebounds in the previous four games, including three as a starter, after his 37-point explosion in Tuesday’s home win against Utah.
For all of the attention on Knecht’s offensive game, Redick has seen growth from the 23-year-old rookie at the other end of the court.
“He’s improving his physicality, both on and off the ball,” Redick said. “I’ve seen some improvement. The biggest part of the, to use your words, learning curve for a rookie is being able to make multiple decisions in a short amount of time on every possession and then come back and do it again on another possession. It’s hard to pick up the pattern recognition. It’s hard to do. But he’s improving there.
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Redick added: “And I shared with you guys, at some point in August or September, I really challenged him to not be a traffic cone. And he’s taken on that challenge. He’s trying. The effort is there. There’s things we can do in the weight room, there’s things we can do in terms of agility that in the long term, I expect him to be a good defender. He’s got the size, he’s got the strength, he definitely has the toughness and the competitiveness and the length to be that.”
NEW COURT
The Lakers debuted their City Edition uniforms for the 2024-25 season along with their first City Edition court against the Magic.
This season’s City Edition uniform, which is nicknamed “California Destiny” and has the first color progression on a Lakers uniform with a reflective gradient from black to purple representing the team’s 65-year evolution in Los Angeles, is the first jersey in team history to say “Lake Show” across the chest.
This City Edition court is the Lakers’ first alternate court outside of the NBA Cup/In-Season tournament courts that the NBA developed the past two seasons.