3 players on the Lakers roster who won't last the entire 2024-25 season

When you play for the Los Angeles Lakers, unless you're a superstar like LeBron James or Anthony Davis, it's probably smarter to rent rather than buy. The Lakers aren't always legitimate championship contenders, but their fans expect nothing less at the outset of each season. That means that if things aren't working, it's time for a change.

By Lakers standards, this offseason was a quiet one, at least when it comes to roster turnover. The Lake Show said goodbye to Taurean Prince and welcomed Dalton Knecht and Bronny James to town, but other than that, GM Rob Pelinka is running it back with pretty much the same group that finished seventh in the West and lost to the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

If the Lakers are going to improve on last season's middling results, it'll be for one of two reasons. Either JJ Redick will be a massive improvement over Darvin Ham, or Pelinka will make some moves in the middle of the season to shake things up. I have high hopes that Redick is going to bring a lot to the table, but it wouldn't be the Lakers without there being some in-season drama. Let's assume Pelinka will be busy this season. What current Lakers could be on the move?

Bronny James will get his historic on-court moment with his dad, but the G League beckons

Let's start with one that should be obvious to most fans. Unless LeBron goes full tyrant mode, Bronny is not going to be on this roster all season.

The Lakers took a lot of heat for drafting Bronny over more highly-regarded prospects. L.A. has always catered to its stars, but this move felt like a bridge too far to some. Nevertheless, the pick was made and Bronny is now wearing purple and gold.

The Lakers have to be very careful not to let the whole LeBron/Bronny thing become a distraction because there are more than a few teams out West that would love to pounce on a compromised Lakers squad. I'll admit that it will be cool when Bronny gets to share the court with his dad, much like how Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr. got to experience that rare accomplishment with the Seattle Mariners back in 1990.

Ken Griffey Sr. was a very good player, and his son went on to become one of the best baseball players in history. We're not going to write Bronny off before he gets a chance to develop, but it's not unreasonable to say that he's not ready to contribute to an NBA team at this point in time.

Redick needs to let the Jameses have their moment in the first game or two, then pull the plug and send Bronny to the G League where he can get real minutes to work on his game. Otherwise, he runs the risk of splintering a team whose goal is winning. Bronny cannot be getting minutes over more deserving players.

It's a delicate balancing act, because you also don't want to rub LeBron the wrong way. King James has to know, though, that the best thing for his team and his son is for Bronny to get to the G League as soon as possible.

Dalton Knecht is coming for Cam Reddish's minutes

Cam Reddish has played for four teams in the last three years, so I won't be taking a Nostradamus victory lap if the Lakers ship him to one of the other 29 NBA franchises before the trade deadline. Here's why I believe it'll happen though. Dalton Knecht was one of the steals of the draft, and he has something the Lakers sorely need.

Outside of LeBron and Anthony Davis, the Lakers don't have a lot of guys that can be counted on to get them a bucket when the going gets tough. Knecht is a rookie and will surely go through his share of highs and lows as he gets used to life in the NBA, but he's a talented scorer who can get points from anywhere on the court.

Knecht can shoot from outside, he can drive with either hand, and he can pull up and finish from midrange. He showed his vast array of skills in college, and on Thursday night, he showed it by torching the Phoenix Suns.

Preseason games aren't typically exciting affairs, but watching Knecht treat the Suns like a 15-seed in the NCAA Tournament was a sight to behold. Until Jaxson Hayes converted a layup with under 30 seconds left in overtime (on a Knecht assist, no less), the 6-foot-6 rookie had scored 20 straight Lakers points that bridged the fourth quarter and overtime, including two threes in the final minute to force the extra period, the second of which he stuck right in 7-foot-3 Bol Bol's mug.

Knecht finished the game with 35 points in 32 minutes. He knocked down eight of 13 from outside. He made Colin Castleton reenact the Thomas Hill pose after Christian Laettner hit his famous shot to beat Kentucky. He had LeBron doing the finger guns for Pete's sake. What else could you want?

As for Reddish, the career 32% three-point shooter played 30 minutes but managed only four points on 2-6 shooting, which means we might have just seen him lose his rotation spot in real time. After what Knecht did Thursday night, most Lakers fans would probably drive Reddish to the airport if Pelinka traded him tomorrow.

D'Angelo Russell's contract almost guarantees that he'll be traded

It seems like D'Angelo Russell gets a lot of hate in NBA circles. Maybe it's residual animosity from his run-in with Nick Young years ago, but I think it has more to do with the fact that he's a good NBA player but has never reached the level of greatness many expected from him when he was drafted second overall in the 2015 draft.

Russell suffers from the same kind of issue that has kept CJ McCollum's name as a permanent trade machine fixture for years. He's good, but not quite good enough that fans are OK with standing pat. It always seems like a better player is just a small move away.

If the Lakers don't get off to a hot start, Pelinka will be looking to shake things up, and Russell, who's playing this year on an eminently tradeable expiring deal, is the most likely one to be on the move. Teams like the Blazers, Wizards and Nets are expected to be conductors on the Cooper Flagg tank train, and could make real assets available in a trade that would help them lose more games. Russell and draft compensation could be all it takes to land someone like Jerami Grant, Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma or Cam Johnson, all players that arguably fit better with Redick's vision for the team. Tanking teams could make the swap and then buy Russell out.

Unless Russell can put together an All-Star type of season or be a steady, complementary piece as the Lakers surprise everyone and surge to the top of the West, it's more likely that he'll be somewhere other than L.A. by time the season ends.