January 15, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) and guard Austin Reaves (15) celebrate during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Lakers Insider Predicts Surprise Starting Lineup Change

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Jason Fray | Last updated Aug 9, 2025 3:30 PM ET

The acquisition of Marcus Smart was a significant one for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Smart gives the team a proven player with playoff experience, toughness, grit, and pedigree. He clearly upgrades the squad in terms of prowess on the defensive end of the floor — particularly on the perimeter. It was a major area of need that the team will continue to address moving forward.

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While Smart figures to be a top-six player on this year's team, there have been questions as to whether he'll be a reserve player or potentially even a starter.

Longtime NBA pundit Jovan Buha currently covers the Lakers. He recently posted a graphic on X in which he believes Smart will be a starter on this year's team ahead of Rui Hachimura.

Here was the Lakers' aggregate minutes breakdown when combining my and Tim's projections: https://t.co/so0DhkiF4z pic.twitter.com/rr3xU8tOXP
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) August 8, 2025

Hachimura was an integral member of last year's team. The 6-foot-8 forward has compiled two-straight seasons in which he's shot over 41 percent from 3-point range. He's also averaged more than 13 PPG in each of these years.

Hachimura's consistency level coupled with his ability to stay on the floor has made him indispensable to the team. There's a level of athletic ability he brings that others in the starting lineup do not possess. Hachimura's floor-spacing skills keeps the lane open for more ball-dominant players. He's also an excellent cutter with some big postseason moments.

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At the same time, the 27-year-old may be best suited to come off the bench as the team's sixth man. When projecting the second unit out, a consistent scorer is not present.

Marcus Smart has shifted over time to guard up more and more.

He started primarily guarding 1s and 2s (~80% of the time).

His time guarding 1s & 2s was <50% for the first time this past season. pic.twitter.com/EKJ0uof9hm
— Cranjis McBasketball (@Tim_NBA) July 19, 2025

Gabe Vincent is more of a gritty backup guard offering timely shooting and solid defense. Dalton Knecht can score, though his consistency level must improve leaps and bounds for him to see the floor. Jake LaRavia is a promising player — though will be entering only his third NBA season.

From there, the grouping of other secondary players (Bronny James, Adou Thiero, Jarred Vanderbilt, Maxi Kleber, Jaxson Hayes) are not scoring-types.

Smart is also a true defense-first player. He'd be theoretically tasked with guarding the opposing team's best offensive player given his unique dimensions as a burly guard that can bang with players taller than him. It could be a more conventional fit with Smart next to Austin Reaves.

At the same time, in this hypothetical situation, Hachimura's production could dip without the same sort of regular minutes. That's something the team would have to monitor.