Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have three starters everyone, from the org to fans to media all agree on. That would be Luka Dončić, Lebron James and Deandre Ayton. 

Austin Reaves is going to start, even though there's an active faction of Lakers fans who prefer he come off the bench. Sorry folks, that ain't happening. 

So that leaves a fifth spot, and presumably JJ Redick will be choosing between incumbent starter Rui Hachimura, and free agent acquisition Marcus Smart. There are a bunch of ways to look at how this should go, and reasons to lobby for both guys. With Hachimura, he's tended to play better as a starter, and provides better floor spacing. Smart, of course, brings far better defensive integrity, and is a better secondary ball mover. Rui would have more opportunities to use his best skill set (scoring) off the bench, where there are more shots available and the Lakers need some oomph. Smart is best served in a role where supplementary offense is the goal, as opposed to one where he needs to post points. 

The Lakers could also go in a different direction, and stick Jarred Vanderbilt in that slot. Vando, in theory, gives you a more versatile defensive energy and athleticism than Smart, but with less offense. But what if Vanderbilt, healthy for the first time in a while, gets back to merely average on offense? Would that higher end D then become a better fit? 

It gets to a truth about Vanderbilt for this year - he's one of the true wild cards for the Lakers. It's been a minute since we saw the best version of Vando, and so when people talk about him it's often really about the concept of Vanderbilt more than the player. But if he's near the top end of what people think he can provide, Vanderbilt really does change what the Lakers look like, at least during the regular season. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: Who is LA's fifth starter? 

SEGMENT 2: The pitch for Rui, the pitch for Smart.

SEGMENT 3: What about Vanderbilt? 

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