Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is switching up his starting lineup for his team's matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. Ham confirmed reports that D'Angelo Russell will move to the bench, while Jarred Vanderbilt will join LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Cam Reddish, and Taurean Prince in the starting lineup.

The shake-up comes as the Lakers (15-14) are mired in a four-game losing streak. They've lost five of six since winning the In-Season Tournament — with the only win coming in a nail-biter against the San Antonio Spurs (whom they lost to the next game).

The Lakers have cited health, fatigue, and lineup inconsistency for their post-IST struggles. On an individual basis, Russell has been the most glaring culprit. DLo averaged 17.6 points and 6.6 assists on 41.8% 3-point shooting through the first 20 games. This month, he's down to 8.7 points and 5.1 assists while shooting 26.5% from 3.

“I just gotta be better,” Russell acknowledged following loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. “There's no excuse for that. It's good to see some go in, but, obviously, we want the win to be the result. Just gotta play better. It happens.” (He had four points through three quarters, then 13 in the fourth).

Russell had started every game since joining the Lakers at last year's trade deadline, with one notable exception: Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, when his poor performance in the series saw him benched in favor of Dennis Schroder. Following the Wolves loss, AD said the Lakers are treating the Thunder game as a “must-win.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Russell's demotion didn't result in Austin Reaves — whom Ham initially moved to the bench to stagger him and Russell — reclaiming a starting spot. Reaves is putting up 19.4 points on .504/.421/.935 shooting splits in December. Instead, Ham is opting for size, versatility, and defense.

“Until we figure out the pieces, at the end of the day you have to have something to hang your hat on, and we chose to lean into the defensive side of the ball,” Ham said in OKC.

30 games into the season, three of the Lakers' major offseason re-signings are on the second unit.