In a conversation with a Western Conference assistant coach recently, the topic of the Los Angeles Lakers was raised and, specifically, what is happening with their starting rotation. Certainly, the backcourt is set with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in starring roles. Quentin Grimes is not a perfect fit at the small forward spot, but he will fill that role. And the center, of course, is Walker Kessler.
That’s a good starting four. But it’s NBA basketball … and you need five. The Lakers’ issue is that they just do not have a starting-caliber power forward on the roster, than in their rush to add depth in early July, the did not anticipate sitting in mid-September with a hole in the starting group.
Asked who he imagines will start for the Lakers, the coach said, “Probably Ziaire Williams. He’s not perfect, he’s not even a starter in this league at any position, but look at their options. He is the best of the worst.”
Ziaire Williams to Start at the 4?
Indeed, Williams will wrestle with the likes of Jarred Vanderbilt, who has struggled to gain the trust of head coach JJ Redick, career bench guy Jake LaRavia and another career bench guy, Sandro Mamukelashvili, who is making starter money but apparently will be consigned to the bench.
Williams is a five-year veteran who has never found his footing in the NBA after he was the No. 10 pick in the 2021 draft. On the “Buha’s Block” podcast, podcaster Nate Duncan told Jovan Buha that Williams would be his pick for the fifth starter.
Said Duncan: “Ziaire has the best theoretical skillset, although you do wish one of those two guys, he or Grimes would be better guarding power forwards. Grimes is really a shooting guard. He is strong, you know, he could maybe guard 3s but probably not a 4. You don’t rally want Walker Kessler doing that, he has not shown himself to be a good one-on-one defender. So that would be a little bit of a concern.
“LaRavia isn’t really good enough offensively, or defensively. Ziaire has shown some ability to guard the ball, but yeah, he is more of a thin guy. I know they’ve been trying to bulk him up a little bit.”
Lakers Made Odd Offseason Choices
Indeed, Williams is listed at 6-foot-9 and is 185 pounds–rail thin. He is not built to guard power forwards. But that circles back to one of the strange decisions by the Lakers this summer: signing Mamukelashvili as a backup big man without having a starter at the 4. Mamukelashvili got a four-year, $52 million contract, a big overpay considering he is not a starter.
Said Duncan: “The Mamu thing, I kind of assumed they paid him all this money because they thought he was going to start, like he’s the biggest contract of any of these guys. That’s part of why I wasn’t on board with them paying him as much as they did–to fire that bullet on a guy that, the Toronto Raptors, they desperately needed offense in the playoffs but wouldn’t even play him against the Cavaliers because his defense was so bad.
Lakers Tabbed to Use ‘Best of the Worst’ As 5th Starter