Things have officially switched gears after Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick addressed the media in their season-opening press conference Thursday.
Pelinka and Redick, set to enter their third season as partners, conducted a 40-minute Q&A session with the media, touching on a wide array of topics, notably what the team’s plans are to fill out the starting lineup.
That’s when coach Redick involuntarily spat out some words that turned out to be one of the major highlights of Thursday’s presser.
“I’m pretty confident in three of the spots,” Redick said when asked about the starting lineup. “The other two spots will not be two White guys.”
Lakers’ Newcomer in Prime Position to Enter Starting Lineup
If Redick is confident that the fourth and fifth spots in the starting lineup won’t be occupied by White players, then that surely favors the newly-signed Ziaire Williams, who made it known in a recent interview that his goal is to earn the starting power forward nod. While Williams is naturally a small forward, he could play the four, especially if Quentin Grimes, another new signing, is inserted as the starting small forward.
“The most promising of the potential starters, Ziaire Williams is the epitome of untapped potential,” wrote Lake Show Life’s Maxwell Ogden, who listed Williams as one of the top three most likely candidates to earn a starting role following Pelinka and Redick’s press conference. “He has the tools to be a great defender, has shown flashes of a quality jump shot, and is an explosive athlete whom Doncic could turn into a top-tier lob threat.”
Williams, 25, is still very much on the rise on both sides of the floor. He is a utility player who can provide a little bit of everything. While that alone doesn’t make him the frontrunner to start for the Lakers next season — Pelinka said there will be an open competition for the final two starting nods throughout training camp and preseason — Williams is perhaps the newcomer fans are most looking forward to watching next season.
Why Williams Can Excel as a Starter
Let’s start with his tools, more specifically, his physical profile.
“Williams offers intriguing physical gifts at 6’9” with a 6′ 10.25” wingspan,” Ogden wrote. “There are concerns about his strength and weight, but he claims to have gone from 185 pounds to roughly 215, and ranked in the 87th percentile regardless (of) perimeter isolation defense in 2025-26, per Basketball Index.”
Williams has also received quite a few endorsements this offseason.
“Z is a guy that — he has no problem picking up 94 feet, he has no problem taking on the tough assignments,” Nets reporter CJ Holmes said of Williams’ defense. “Defensively, really, is where you see his athleticism come up. He’s stalking those passing lanes. Like you said, he’s getting those deflections.”
Said Nets reporter Connor Long: “He played all five positions at least (at) one point throughout the course of the year. That shows me at the very least the coaching staff had some degree of trust in him to hold his own defensively against bigger guys. We’ll see what L.A. does and how they manage that and if they want to give him some run against 4s or 5s, but I think he has the tools to do it.”
Williams will have ample opportunity to prove himself to coach Redick over the next month before the regular season tips off.
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