Rotation Questions: Where Do Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia and Dalton Knecht Fit In?

The Lakers open the preseason on Friday, and while there are plenty of issues to work out, and plenty of time to do it, it's not too early to get a feel for what the rotation could look like. 

Luka Dončić and LeBron James (who won't play Friday, but was doing individual drills on Wednesday) give the Lakers a ton of flexibility, based on having guard skills in forward bodies. Austin Reaves provides obvious guard skills as well. So that means JJ Redick can deploy his other assets creatively. Asked about the guard rotation Wednesday, there were two notable things -- first, he included Jake LaRavia in that group. LaRavia has played some shooting guard, but generally is seen as a forward. And then he didn't mention Dalton Knecht. 

That indicates Knecht has some work to do before he can crack the regular rotation, and it probably means the Lakers have real plans for LaRavia, even if it's smart not to get too hung up on positional designations. 

It also leaves a lot of room for frontcourt guys to have rotation minutes, especially Jarred Vanderbilt. Vando has been in and out of the lineup for the last couple of seasons, and has had very little opportunity to develop consistency in his play. Given the amount of energy and physicality he plays with, Vanderbilt really needs good health to perform. Right now, he has it. Vando talked about it on Media Day, Redick noted it Wednesday after practice. 

So what does a healthy Vanderbilt mean for the Lakers? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: Injury updates: LeBron does individual drills, Vincent is back, Kleber is hurt. 

SEGMENT 2: Where do LaRavia and Knecht fit into the guard rotation? 

SEGMENT 3: Vanderbilt! 

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