Hours after NBA fans, players and executives were stunned by the Lakers-Mavs blockbuster, the focus now shifts to who will enter the starting lineup alongside LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and—once he’s healthy—Luka Doncic. The team already has a plethora of forwards and bigs who have temporarily started in AD’s place, but now—barring another trade—head coach JJ Redick will have to rely on those players for the rest of the season.
Lakers Who Could Replace Davis in Starting Lineup After Trade
Power Forward
The Case for Jarred Vanderbilt
Prior to the deal, the Lakers had leaned toward a defense-first identity. Considering his prowess at picking up opposing stars, along with Doncic’s limitations at stopping the ball, Jarred Vanderbilt seems like the ideal candidate to achieve balance in the starting lineup once again.
The 25-year-old forward recently returned to action after missing nearly a year due to foot and knee injuries. His stats don’t exactly turn heads—2.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game on 38.5% shooting—but his impact speaks volumes. In his first game back, Vanderbilt recorded four rebounds, three steals and two points in 12 minutes against the Warriors.
Vando is a player who doesn’t need to score double-digits to make a difference in games. He’s tasked with garnering stops on defense and stopping the other team’s best player, roles that he’s filled to a tee in his time with the Lakers so far. With a lineup that will already have more than enough shot creators when healthy, Vando is the defensive ace who can take pressure off of James, Reaves and Doncic on that side of the ball.
The Case for Dorian Finney-Smith
Dorian Finney-Smith has filled a massive hole for the Lakers as a 3&D wing. Many had speculated he could start alongside James and Davis in his arrival, but with the latter out the door, there’s a legitimate chance he could do so.
Since crossing the country, DFS has averaged 6.8 points and three rebounds while shooting 49% from the field, nearly 43% from three and 80% from the free-throw line in 13 games (two starts). In his two starts, he put up an average of seven points and four rebounds on 75% FG and 50% 3PT.
A couple weeks ago, Redick alluded that Finney-Smith’s workload could increase, citing an ankle injury that put him on a minutes restriction upon his arrival to LA.
“I think as the season progresses we hope that minute total gets back up to kind of what he was doing in Brooklyn, about 29 or 30 minutes a game,” Redick said.
Like Vanderbilt, Finney-Smith is a standout wing defender who has made stopping the ball a priority of his game. However, unlike Vando, DFS is productive on offense with an ability to make opponents pay from the three-point line. Case in point: between his stints with the Nets and Lakers, Finney-Smith is shooting a career-best 43% from deep this season. The fact he’s kept his perimeter output consistent between both teams is an encouraging sign for the rest of the year.
Aside from DFS’s offensive production, his previous stint with Luka Doncic makes him another viable candidate to replace AD as a starter. The duo played in Dallas from 2018 to 2023, and when Finney-Smith returned to Dallas in 2023, Doncic even predicted the two would reunite again.
“That’s my guy. I miss him so much, and I know we’re going to play [together] again some day.”
– Luka Doncic on Dorian Finney-Smith
— All Things Mavs (@All_Things_Mavs) October 28, 2023
Now, Doe and the Don are back in action in LA.
If He’s Still Here: Rui Hachimura
Rui Hachimura has served as the Lakers starting four throughout the season, effective in his role alongside LeBron and AD. The only reason why Hachimura has an asterisk here is the fact that, with a $17 million salary and the team not done making moves, he could still be traded between now and Feb. 6.
But assuming he stays put, there’s a chance Hachimura could retain his role as a starter. Across 40 games this season, the 26-year-old has averaged 12.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on .505/.426/.781 splits. Since returning from a calf strain that briefly sidelined him, Hachimura has put up 18.7 points, three rebounds and one assist per game over LA’s last three contests—including a 21-point outing against the Knicks (without Davis) last night.
Rui has been “Ol’ Reliable” as a starter this season, making strides on both ends of the floor to help the Lakers improve to 28-19 and fifth in the West. He has improved as a three-level scorer while defending multiple positions up front. Hachimura has also spent a career-best 13% of his minutes at center in an intriguing small-ball experiment, sometimes utilized out of necessity given the team’s struggles at center. His versatility and experience make him another strong candidate to remain with the first unit, giving the frontcourt much-needed size and strength with a franchise cornerstone gone.
Big Question Marks at Center
As excellent as this trade seems for the Lakers, there’s no denying that the team’s big man depth is gutted (unless the team secures another center in four days).
The currently-injured Maxi Kleber was a rotational big man at best for the Mavericks. Kleber, a combo forward-center, averaged a career-best 9.1 points per game in 2019-20 but only served as a full-time five last season. In 34 games (four starts) this year, Kleber has averaged three points and two rebounds and an assist on .385/.265/.762 splits. He has since spent time recovering from a right foot fracture, which he sustained last Sunday. There’s no timeline set for his return this season, but if he does, he’d become the Lakers’ third healthy center.
Jaxson Hayes has raised eyebrows this season, mostly for the wrong reasons. Numbers-wise, the 24-year-old has been largely unproductive this year, averaging 5.3 points and four rebounds in nearly 17 minutes per game. However, to his credit, Hayes has had some bright spots this year. He scored a season-high 12 points in 21 minutes off the bench against the Raptors in November and recorded a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double against the Wizards last week as a starter. Hayes has been unable to string together productive outings for the Lakers, but he has laudably filled some big shoes nonetheless. With Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison limited as two-way players and Christian Wood sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Lakers will lean on Hayes for major minutes in the short term.
The Last Word on the Lakers Starting Lineup
The Lakers have no shortage of internal options when it comes to once again fixing their starting lineup. It’s clear no player can replace Davis’s production, but the aforementioned Lakers must step up if they want to move the team forward in an unexpected new era.
© Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
