For the sixth straight season, the Los Angeles Lakers will be part of the NBA’s opening night. LA will host the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at 10 p.m. (ET) on TNT in a historic game. LeBron James and Bronny James could be the first father-and-son duo to play in an NBA regular-season game.
LeBron James, making his 22nd straight start in his team’s season opener, is projected to play 33 minutes to play tonight. Meanwhile, Bronny James may not play. The younger James had a strong game in the Laker’s preseason finale but struggled offensively most of the training camp.
“Whenever it happens, it will happen,” James said after Lakers shootaround Tuesday morning. “If it’s tonight or down the line, whenever it happens, it will happen. But it’s been a treat, and just in preseason, the practices, just every day … just bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about and how to prepare every day as a professional.”
Austin Reaves Looking Forward To Historic NBA Opener And JJ Redick Receives High-Praise From A Current NBA Player Before First Career Game As Coach
Los Angeles had a pretty quiet summer, re-signing some of its free agents. Their big splash was drafting Dalton Knecht with the No. 3 overall pick. The Lakers have lost seven straight season openers and are just 3-11 in the first game of the season since 2010-11. They have a .539 winning percentage record and 37 games above .500 since LeBron landed in LA.
Los Angeles has the fifth-most continuity on its roster as they return 13 players on its 15-man roster.
Meanwhile, Minnesota is coming off one of its best seasons in franchise history. Minnesota won 56 games, the second most in its history, and reached the conference finals for the second time. However, the Timberwolves traded away Karl-Anthony Towns to New York in a blockbuster deal.
Lakers Outlook
Los Angeles enters the 2024-35 season with some urgency as LeBron enters his twilight years and becomes a rookie head coach. The Lakers went 2-4 during the preseason under first-time head coach JJ Redick, though LeBron only played in three of the contests, while Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura missed the final two games.
Despite the Lakers’ struggles on both ends of the floor for most of the preseason—they were defeated by double figures three times—Redick has received a lot of praise. The latest is from Indiana Pacers reserve point guard TJ McConnell, who played with Redick for two seasons in Philadelphia.
“X’s and O’s wise, JJ’s one of the smartest I’ve ever been around,” McConnell told Stephen Noh of The Sporting News.
Vegas has the Lakers as the fourth favorite to win the Pacific Division. But also as the fourth-favorite to win the Western Conference.
Austin Reaves
Los Angeles won’t have three of its big men tonight—Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood, and Christian Koloko—which is not surprising as none of the trio played this preseason. On a positive note, Austin Reaves will be in the starting lineup and likely play 35 minutes. Reaves dealt with an ankle injury late in the preseason.
“Austin Reaves said his ankle feels great, and he’s ready to play tomorrow vs. Minnesota,” Jovan Buha of The Athletic said yesterday.
Reaves will look to continue his upward trend as the 26-year-old has improved in the previous two seasons. He is coming off a career season, though his shooting numbers took a little bit last season.
Reaves struggled with his shooting during the preseason, though he showed growth as a playmaker and ball-handler. Reaves, one of several Lakers who reportedly love playing for Redick, could see a jump in his production thanks to Redick’s coaching.
“It’s not even really just for me,” Reaves added. “I just think the whole structure and foundation that these coaches have brought in for us, talking with everybody, is a great start because I feel like a lot of times last year we won a lot of games off of talent, and when you have talent around structure then you have opportunities to do something extraordinary. So I don’t think it’s necessarily for me or not, I think that everything that they’ve came in and talked about makes sense to me for our whole collective group.”
