r/lakers • u/CtrlAltDelightfull Cameron Carr 43 • 1d ago
Lakers’ starters vs. Denver tonight:
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u/CtrlAltDelightfull Cameron Carr 43 1d ago
JJ says they "just want to get a look" at that group tonight, and nothing is definitive for Opening Night. Says there’s a chance Grimes could start but that this was a group he wanted to see with Sexton out.
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u/CtrlAltDelightfull Cameron Carr 43 1d ago
Also Carr, Adou and Sexton are out tonight. Everyone else is available
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u/OriginalJuuzou Black Mamba 8/24 1d ago
Damn no Carr or Adou 😭
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u/carlonia 1d ago
I don’t think Carr healthy or not was going to be part of the rotation this year unless injuries are a concern. He’s not a wing despite what everyone believes, he’s a guard and we don’t have much minutes for him
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u/OriginalJuuzou Black Mamba 8/24 1d ago
That’s why him missing pre season sucks. One of the few times we’d likely get to see long runs of him outside of blowouts (unless he gets into the rotation).
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u/carlonia 1d ago
That’s fair and I agree. It’s a downer for sure, I just don’t think it affects our regular season that much if at all
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u/sadduckfan 1d ago
Injuries happen every year. There will be times where he gets a chance to prove himself.
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u/Repulsive_Poetry_623 1d ago
I think Carr will be in rotation. Might not be the first off bench, but will play decent minutes
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u/INT_MIN 1d ago
The Thybulle-Kessler pairing is just so intriguing.
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u/LudwigNasche 1d ago
On defense this is the best team we can put together. Can we grab boards and make plays on offense? We have an opportunity to see it tonight.
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u/Champagnesoda 1d ago
Luka is a one man offense we will be fine. We also have reaves lol
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u/LudwigNasche 1d ago
We will see it tonight.
Last season we suffered with space when LeBron was on the floor and James had like 1 million times more gravity than those players together. If Ziaire and Matisse can make the open corner 3 we will be fine, Matisse still has to hit them on this team. We need better rebounding from both too.
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u/wallysmith127 1d ago
This also means Grimes takes the backup ball handler role with Sexton out and Bronny/Hardy can't be trusted. This is a real scrimmage and while the team shouldn't go all out, I expect them to play for the win.
It's a good tactical move esp since Grimes didn't go out and seize the role
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u/LudwigNasche 1d ago
Yes, I have overlooked it, we can't afford giving Bronny and Hardy those minutes as ballhandlers
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u/makeshift11 Kobe Bryant 24 1d ago
It's not like LeBron at 40 years old was going to be constantly moving off the ball when he didn't have it in his hands. I would expect a lot more movement on offense with these younger role players to be moving a lot more off the ball
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u/Odd-Direction9452 1d ago
He loves the activity of Ziaire and Thybulle. I personally prefer staggering them and also keeping Thybulles usage lower but not mad at this especially if Ziaire’s shot is real.
You’re surrounding Luka and AR with defensive tenacity.
A Sexton Grimes backcourt could also do a lot of damage off the bench.
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u/diablejambeats 1d ago
Also I imagine even if you start Thybulle you don’t have to play him starter mins
Get the tone set and then keep the pressure up when Grimes comes in
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u/Odd-Direction9452 1d ago
Yeah you can totally manage his minutes in a starter role. I generally don’t love having a guy with his injury history start just because it throws the rhythm off a bit more substantially if/when they do miss an extended stretch. But putting injuries aside this is the best starting lineup construction imo.
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u/diablejambeats 1d ago
Ahhh gotcha, yea that does make sense
Yea I think it’s fs the best lineup we’ve got to start the season at least, so we should see a fair bit of it regardless
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u/DietCokeJon 1d ago
I like Grimes as a starter, as he's a capable defender while being by far their best offball scorer aside from Luka and Austin.
But its definitely intriguing. A Sexton, Grimes, Jake, Adou, Mamu bench looks fast, gritty and capable on paper.
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u/super_chill_21 1d ago
Grimes can D too though. Thybulle is always out
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u/Odd-Direction9452 1d ago
Yeah I think JJ sees Thybulle more as a QB of the defense type. Personally like how dynamic Grimes is as a two way threat but I get what JJ is going for.
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u/xBootstrap 1d ago
If Grimes doesn’t pan out as a POA defender, I could see this as the lineup. Grimes could be the scorer off the bench.
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u/retrospects 77 1d ago
I mean, Mamu and Q would be buckets.
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u/KriticalKarl Purple and Gold 1d ago
This is an interesting lineup, I do continue to have concerns about chemistry to start the season given that the lineups have changed so much and players have been out throughout the preseason.
Our schedule is pretty light to start the season I just hope the lack of reps doesn’t cost us games we would have won otherwise.
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u/ElJabroniMahoney33 1d ago
Its a brand new team some teething problems at the start are likely. Its a long season they'll be fluent by the turn of the year.
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u/prodij18 1d ago
I was actually thinking about this lineup earlier in the offseason. After Luka, Austin, and Sexton, Grimes is our best ball handling offensive engine. Admittedly that part of his game has looked a bit ugly in preseason, but the lineups have been deep bench and well it is preseason. But his resume includes some decent scoring potential and he’s certainly a cut above Bronny, Hardy, and Manon there. (It’s a shame we haven’t been able to see more Cam there, oh well.)
Anyway, long story short, Grimes can add more creation off the bench where we need it while Thybulle can do the 3 and D thing with the starters.
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u/SpiritFantastic4835 1d ago
This is like a playoff lineup but I don’t trust Thybulle starting in the regular season. Hes too injury prone
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u/motorboat_mcgee 1d ago
Starting doesn't necessarily mean huge minutes, could be specifically for this rotation at like 12-18 mins a game total
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u/xreddawgx 1d ago
You put Thybulle in Ant or SGA the first 10 minutes to make sure they dont go off
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u/winnerchickeen2019 1d ago edited 1d ago
the first official Luka Kessler lob!
btw the first points of Luka's Lakers career was a stepback 3 pointer over the outstretched fingertips of Walker Kessler (was on the Jazz).
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u/Aromatic-Tradition37 1d ago
Gosto da ideia de descansar hoje o Grimes, se não me engano ele jogou todos os jogos da pré-temporada.
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u/LudwigNasche 1d ago
I guess JJ is just giving a close look to our two best perimeter defenders. Grimes has been a bit erratic out there, good on offense without the ball, bad with the ball, had a good game on defense against Curry after 3 unremarkable games and he can't grab a board to save his life, but Matisse and Ziaire are bad rebounders too.
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u/retrospects 77 1d ago
Every time I see a Jovan post, in my head I hear BUHA BUHA BUHA, Yo Yoooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
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u/GutsTheSwordsman 15 1d ago
I really like this starting lineup.
Lakers have size at every position
If Luka can be more active defensively then maybe Grimes in for one of Thybulle/Zaire can be decent too.
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u/Doc_JC 24 1d ago
I was curious of this lineup. This really lets them lean into just getting AR Luka and Kessler looks and puts high defense energy guys around them.
It will also allow Grimes to do more offensively with the bench unit allowing him to be the 2nd option behind either Luka or AR (which is who Grimes would likely sub in for)
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u/Strange-Effort-3441 1d ago
My expected closing lineup when they have a lead, but I’m kinda surprised it’s starting. I guess they might want a lineup with QG and Mamu to test how much of the playmaking they can do.
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u/Kindly_Ad995 1d ago
I think this lineup but with Mamu instead of Ziaire is my projected/preferred “death lineup” to close games with. Its the only one that makes sense to me as being balanced for defense and spacing/offense
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u/MangoDouble3259 1d ago
Defensively this is our best line up with ar and luka. My only concern be can these 2 guys hit their shots given starter mins.
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u/Luopandaa 19h ago
I love that ziare is starting because of his defensive ability and he’s a true big wing at 6’9. but in every preseason game so far JJ has assigned him to be the POT defender guarding the point guard full court. Just kinda confused because we have someone like thybule or even grimes to do that, and we can have ziare guard the best opposing wing. I get that we haven’t played any teams with any great offensive wings yet like a kawhi or a tatum, so perhaps JJ would assign him to guard them in those games, but so far i don’t get why we aren’t using our big wing to guard the big wings. thoughts guys?
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u/Swoosh_rotaerc 18h ago
I think this should be the starting line up going forward.
Sexton, Grimes, Jake, Mamu is a really good bench rotation.
Thybulle and Ziaire aren't the best starting forwards but both are on minimums and won't be the long term solutions.
Allows Grimes and Mamu to get used to coming off the bench for next season because next off season they'll use the NTMLE (~$16M) and Vando's expiring (maybe Hardy's as well) plus picks to get to starting calibre forwards.
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u/Splittinghairs7 1d ago
I think this could be a very deadly closing lineup;
Trying to rely on Thybulle to start might not be the best but closing could be very intriguing.
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u/LudwigNasche 1d ago
Closing a game with two players that don't have much of an offensive game can make it easier for defenses to slow down Luka and Austin.
Tonight is going to be a good opportunity to see how they play together, they are the best perimeter defenders we have. Neither can pass, drible, grab a board and they only make wide open shots.
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u/catperson77789 1d ago
Thybulle can shoot. Its not like he has no offensive game like vando
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u/LudwigNasche 1d ago
He is a bit better than Vando on offense, not much. He can only make the wide open jumper and he is streaky.
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u/Splittinghairs7 1d ago
I disagree and we can look no further than the 2020 championship lakers to see that the team can absolutely thrive playing a lineup with two limited offensive players who can play great defense in Caruso and Danny Green.
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u/LudwigNasche 1d ago
That team was built so differently.
Do you think Matisse and Ziaire are on the same tier of Green as shooters?
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u/Splittinghairs7 21h ago
Green shot very poorly from three that year 36.7% and Caruso wasn’t much better at 33%.
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u/Negative-Scheme-6674 1d ago
Im still concerned with Luka , Reaves defense when they are both on court 😭 and we will still see that tonight for me Reaves need to be bench early if it will not work so that the team can adjust fast
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u/mamba5469 Los Angeles Lakers 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/CIy7Ri74WywvK