Assessing the potential starting lineup for the LeBron Lakers

EL SEGUNDO, CA - JUNE 26: Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers helps introduce 2018 NBA draft pick Moritz Wagner during an introductory press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center on June 26, 2018 in El Segundo, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images) /

What will the Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup look like if they take their current roster into the season?

We’re 36 hours into NBA free agency and a lot has happened. At the same time though, there are plenty of cards still to fall. The Lakers roster as it is currently comprised may or may not be the one they trot out to start the season. But now with the single biggest question of the offseason answered, we have enough of a picture to commence with the wild speculation, conjecture, and hypothetical predictions.

It’s also worth nothing that I use the term “offseason” loosely. This may not technically be in-season, but the NBA is a 365-day a year league and the 48 hours surrounding the opening of free agency are about the most exciting two days of the year, especially when LeBron James in involved.

So even though several free agents are still on the market, most notably DeMarcus Cousins, and Kawhi Leonard’s future is still hanging in the balance, there’s no guarantee that either end up in LA this seasons. Either of those situations could reach their resolutions this week, today, or by the time you finish reading this sentence to be honest.

Even if the Lakers roster looks the way it does today in October, they’re a young team and they’re going to have a core of players who have never shared the floor. It’s going to take some time for them to gel, to work out rotations and roles. At least for game one of 82 if everyone is healthy, this is the lineup you can most likely expect to see:

Starters

PG – Lonzo Ball
SG – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
F – Brandon Ingram
F – LeBron James
C – Javale McGee

Reserves

F – Kyle Kuzma
F – Julius Randle (RFA)
G/SF – Lance Stephenson
G – Josh Hart
C – Ivica Zubac
C/PF – Moritz Wagner

Against small-ball lineups or teams without a true center like the Warriors, look for the Lakers to play Kuzma off the bench and to run with a two-guard, three-forward lineup.

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Obviously the LeBron signing overshadows and drowns out everything else in the NBA, or sports, or news of any kind but don’t sleep on the Caldwell-Pope, Javale McGee, or Lance Stephenson signings. None is LeBron James but all three are going to be major additions themselves.

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