What will the Lakers' opening-night starting lineup look like?
The starting lineup for the Los Angeles Lakers will look much different on opening night of 2026.
When healthy, the Lakers' most-used starting lineup in 2025-26 was Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Marcus Smart, and Deandre Ayton.
Three of those players are now gone, as are Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard, who were the sixth and seventh options for the team when healthy.
With five rotation players gone, the Lakers brought in a completely new group to build around Doncic and Reaves, acquiring Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney, Jaden Hardy, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and rookie Cameron Carr.
The Starting Lineup
PG: Luka Doncic
SG: Austin Reaves
SF: Quentin Grimes
PF: Sandro Mamukelashvili
C: Walker Kessler
The first two are rather obvious. This is Luka's team now. The shadow of LeBron James has been completely removed, putting all the responsibility of being a star player on Luka. Reaves is back after getting a big raise in the offseason, and he'll have to take the role as the number two star with no LeBron to fall back on, but both seem ready for the task.
The Lakers had a +11.6 net rating when Reaves and Doncic were on the floor last season, easily the best net rating of any duo on the team.
Kessler is an easy call at center, considering the Lakers gave up multiple first-round picks and then signed him to a four-year, $129 million deal. He's the type of center who has thrived next to Luka over the years, and the trio of Luka, Reaves, and Kessler should be a force for other teams to deal with.
Grimes slots in at the small forward position as a three-and-D player who fits nicely next to Luka and Reaves. He'll have to pick up their slack on the defensive end, but should benefit on offense with great looks and the ability to attack off the catch. He shot only 33% from three last season, but the Lakers are hoping he's back to his 37-39% range that he's been at for the majority of his career.
Mamukelshavili is the final piece of the starting lineup, a floor-stretching big who should work as a connector on both ends of the floor.
Bench Pieces
Jake LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt might get a look as starters at the power forward position since they were on the team last year, but Mamueklashvili is a better fit with his shooting and passing. Both players should be in the rotation.
The guard rotation is very strong wth Collin Sexton leading the charge as the bench scorer armed with defensive wings Thybulle and Williams. Hardy will providing spacing off the bench, and Carr projects to be a three-and-D player with upside.
