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The LA Lakers will kick off their preseason on Oct. 3 against the Sacramento Kings.
Preview: Sacramento Kings at LA Lakers
The LA Lakers went 0-6 in the 2021 preseason. In retrospect, their performance was a sign of what was to come. Russell Westbrook's addition and his fit with the team were presented as scapegoats for the 2021-22 Lakers. However, Westbrook will likely start the 2022-23 season in a Lakers uniform.
The LA Lakers' offseason acquisitions of Dennis Schroder and Patrick Beverley could improve their chances of making a playoff run. However, they look thin at the position with Damian Jones as their projected starting center.
Austin Reaves, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Dennis Schroder are all projected to be in the second lineup. However, Kendrick Nunn has also reportedly seen minutes in the starting five.
Ham commented on the projected lineup during training camp.
"I’m just looking at everything," Hame said. "I see what fits with a small lineup, with Bron at the 4, AD at the 5, the traditional lineup. We haven’t paired Russ and (Patrick Beverley) together just yet, but we’ve been throwing out all types of lineups together out there.
"K-Nunn has been with some. Damian Jones and Wenyen Gabriel, Thomas Bryant — we’ve been rotating people all over the place just to see.” (via) ClutchPoints
The Sacramento Kings are a much different story.
The Kings went 4-0 in the 2021 preseason. However, after making some questionable moves at the trade deadline, sending Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers, they, too, finished outside the play-in tournament.
They hired a new coach in Mike Brown, who has won three championships as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors. They have an All-Star center in Domantas Sabonis and a high-scoring guard in De'Aaron Fox. They selected Iowa State's Keegan Murray in the draft. His outings in the Summer League earned him the Summer League MVP.
Some of their notable acquisitions in the offseason included former Lakers Kent Bazemore and Malik Monk. They also added sharpshooters Kevin Huerter and Justin Holiday.
The tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT on Monday at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles. The game can be watched on Spectrum SportsNet or NBA TV.
Injury Report
While no official injury report has been made available, The Athletic's Jovan Buha put out an unofficial IR for the LA Lakers.
Anthony Davis has been deemed probable with lower back tightness. Troy Brown Jr. (low back soreness) and Lonnie Walker IV (left ankle sprain) are out. Schroder, too, is out for the game as he is not present with the team.
According to the Sacramento Bee's Jason Anderson, the Sacramento Kings had no injuries to report as of Sunday evening.
Predicted Lineups
For the Sacramento Kings, the lineup is predicted to consist of De'Aaron Fox (1), Harrison Barnes (3) and Domantas Sabonis (5). Mike Brown has stated that the power-forward and shooting-guard positions are undecided.
The LA Lakers will likely start LeBron James (3) and Anthony Davis (4). It is unclear whether Russell Westbrook or Patrick Beverley will start at point guard. Kendrick Nunn is likely to start as a shooting guard.
