First looks

[GoldenRam]

At the Lakers tomorrow .. See how long any of the new guys play. Most likely little to no Lebron and starters, but with only 4 pre season games and opening night just 3 weeks out, they really can't afford to be too stingy with minutes. Smart is likely out, has some health issues already, the rook is out, still dealing with injury problems from before the draft.

They'll want to start getting Ayton acclimated, they just signed a former high draft pick, shooter off the bench type they will likely want to evaluate, think he's on a 2 way deal. Expect Bronny and Knecht to get evaluation minutes. Bronny to see if he's added anything useful (like a game) or whether he's still just a nod to his daddy. Knecvt because he's been nothing special since the "trade" and was outplayed in summer league by Swider of all people.

Word from JJ is that AR worked on his body and is stronger this season, also supposedly more burst, which could help him on D side, which is where a bunch of Lakers fans bitch about his game. If he can improve his D to the point where he isn't hunted all game long, that would help, so maybe he gets a few more minutes to evaluate any possible improvements there, also, his 3 ball could stand some improvement, so hopefully he worked on that this offseason.

They likely look to get LaRavia some good minutes early, see what he brings, especially since he's supposed to have some dog in him defensively, and with a rook who is supposed to be a D guy on the wing, La Ravia is going to want to make some early impact. AR pushed for his signing, so that may have some impact. Guys like Maxi and Vincent, who are possible trade fodder due to contracts and impact, but I think Vincent is already having some injury issues so he could be limited.

Backup C's will get a look, is there anyone with more potential impact than Hayes, though right now I think that third guy is Maxi, so probably not, unless Maxi's touch is back, in which case as a stretch 5 he could see sometime, especially to open up room for Bron/Luka, and some for AR. Lakers may want to explore AR bringing the ball up to save Luka/Bron some wear and tear, see if his handles have improved a bit. They had some success last season with AR bringing it up and then handing it off to Luka/Bron to operate once in the front court

We'll see