Darvin Ham’s lineup has been announced.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Harm’s first five for tonight’s second look at a new and improved LA roster have been revealed!
As it did on Saturday in a 109-103 road win over the Golden State Warriors, LA will once again trot out a starting lineup of minimum-salaried vet Dennis Schröder at point guard, maximum-salaried D’Angelo Russell at shooting guard, 6’6″ Troy Brown Jr. at small forward and 6’9″ Rui Hachimura at power forward and Anthony Davis at center, the latter of whom was just cleared in the league’s latest injury report.
AD had previously been considered merely probable to play, as it appears that the right foot stress injury that had kept him out for five-and-a-half weeks appears to still be bothering his lift.
Why Ham is going all-in on an undersized backcourt without maximal defense (to do so, he’d probably start Russell at point guard and Austin Reaves at two-guard) or three-point shooting (he’d start Russell next to Malik Beasley) is a bit of a head-scratcher. He probably is prioritizing having his top playmakers available, and clearly has a comfort level with Schröder.
Jarred Vanderbilt has already emerged as a more fun win-now piece than the intriguing Rui Hachimura, though I understand why LA would want to start the ex-Wizards combo forward, given his catch-and-shoot ability. Would Ham ever consider starting Davis alongside Mo Bamba (still suspended, for now) in the backcourt, to keep some long range sniping but move The Brow out of the paint at least some of the time?
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