Lakers make surprising starting five decision before opening night

In a surprising turn of events, the Los Angeles Lakers will replace the injured LeBron James with guard Gabe Vincent in the starting unit when their season tips off against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick confirmed his team's starting five before the final preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, according to The Athletic's Jovan Buha.  

ESPN's Dave McMenamin also verified that the Lakers will start Vincent, Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton to kick start their 2025-26 campaign. 

Gabe Vincent shot lights out in preseason

Vincent edged out Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt for the final starting role thanks to his outstanding long-range shooting in the preseason. Through four preseason games, Vincent shot a mind-blowing 55.6 percent from deep, making 3.8 threes on 6.8 attempts per game. Overall, he averaged 16.3 points and 3.0 assists on 47.4 percent shooting. 

Despite Vincent's hot shooting, it was previously expected that either Smart or Vanderbilt would take the final starting spot for defensive reasons. Redick previously stated that Smart, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and Vanderbilt would play a vital role this season as his team's primary point-of-attack defenders. The comments came in response to the Lakers' defensive struggles last season, which showed up in the playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lakers starting five to remain fluid

After the preseason finale, Redick made it clear that while Vincent will start in the season opener, he is not a shoo-in for the role thereafter. Redick said that he may alter the starting unit game-by-game depending on matchups and issues posed by certain opponents. 

"I have a pretty good idea who's going to start Game 1. After that, I don't know," Redick said, via LakersNation's Daniel Starkand. "But I do think in that lineup there's a lot of shooting around Luka and DA, and Gabe is another ball-handler, another tough defender. I think he fits in well, but you have to take a look at every matchup we play against and have to make a decision there."

The Lakers may field a multitude of different starting units until LeBron James returns to the lineup. The 23-year veteran is likely to return at some point in mid-November, per ESPN's Shams Charania.