LOS ANGELES — The NBA’s All-Star break, and the rest that came along with it, provided the Lakers with something heading into Wednesday that they haven’t had for most of the season: an opportunity to have a rotation with nearly their full roster available.
With LeBron James upgraded from questionable to available for Wednesday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers had every player other than Maxi Kleber available.
Coach JJ Redick used a 10-man rotation against the Hornets, with Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jarred Vanderbilt and Alex Len playing as reserves behind the starting lineup of James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes.
“We’re still trying to develop the ideal rotation,” Redick said before the game. “But again, as we’ve said all year, the ideal rotation may change night to night, depending on the opponent. So a lot of guys will get their shot.”
Those rotations will continue to feature small-ball lineups without a true center on the floor.
“You have to build up the familiarity with that group,” Redick said. “And in particular now, when [Anthony Davis] was out for that stretch of games, Max [Christie] was part of that, now Luka will be part of that.
“And that doesn’t mean you introduce that with 25 minutes a night. We’re gonna give that some looks like we have been. And we’ll continue to just … tweaking things around the edges when we’re healthy, I think is a healthy thing to do in preparation for hopefully a playoff run.”
Wednesday was just the third game with Doncic on the lineup, and his first since his minutes restriction was eased, after he played in a Feb. 10 home win against Utah and the Feb. 12 road loss to the Jazz before the All-Star break.
It was also the second game with Knecht back in the fold after the trade that involved him going to the Hornets was rescinded.
“We’re obviously a little bit of a work in progress going forward just because we have had a number of additions and a re-addition or two re-additions,” Redick said. “So just trying to figure out what this new group is. I don’t think our standards change. I don’t think our way of going about what we’re trying to do changes.”
WELCOME BACK
Wednesday was the first matchup between the Lakers and Hornets since the trade that would have sent Charlotte center Mark Williams to L.A. and Knecht, Cam Reddish and the Lakers’ 2031 first-round draft pick and a 2030 pick swap to Charlotte was rescinded because Williams didn’t pass the Lakers’ physical exam.
Redick didn’t comment on Williams, but Hornets coach Charles Lee spoke about the brief period of time he was able to spend with Knecht.
“Dalton, he’s a hooper,” Lee said. “He loves the game. He came in and immediately wanted to get to work. So I think that the Lakers are getting a guy that just loves the game and wants to keep getting better and then obviously adds an element of shooting to the court.
“Having Mark back, I feel like it’s gonna be seamless. He’s been a part of everything we’ve been doing since Day One, since I’ve been hired. He’s built great relationships with the players on and off the court and so having him back in the mix like we’ve seen what he can do in a game and how he can positively affect the game for the team for himself and for his teammates and so we’re looking forward to having him back.”
Wednesday was Williams’ first game with the Hornets since the trade was called off.
“He always has juice and so I think that being here is maybe a little bit of added fuel for him,” Lee said. “But the thing that I’ve noticed about him since getting to know him is that every opportunity that he has in front of him he’s just looking forward to getting better and so I know he’s gonna come out and play hard no matter what.”
