The 2023-24 Los Angeles Lakers — sans LeBron James and Austin Reaves — began their quest for the franchise's 18th banner against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center on Saturday night. Golden State won, 125-108.

“Overall, I'm pleased,” said Darvin Ham. “Definitely got some things we need to clean up a little bit, but I like the make-up of our group.”

Here are five things we learned (or didn't) from the Lakers preseason opener.

5) Starting 3 remains TBD…

Ham has named four starters: LeBron, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, and D'Angelo Russell. He admitted to knowing who the fifth starter will be, hinting that it will reveal itself over the course of the preseason. Rui Hachimura offers scoring and size, Jarred Vanderbilt is their best wing defender, and Taurean Prince is the superior shooter. Vanderbilt is probably the slight favorite after one week of camp, though all three have ran with the starters. (Ham wants a consistent starting five instead of a mix-and-match approach.)

We didn't glean much on Saturday. With LeBron chilling, both Hachimura and Vanderbilt got the starting nod. Rui finished with 12 points (5-for-12 shooting) and 7 rebounds in 21 minutes. Vando went for 6 and 7, including two open corner 3s. He has to convert enough of those to merit starting and closing opportunities.

Prince, meanwhile, fouled out in 13 minutes (veteran move, perhaps).

4) While backup wing…may be D

The other notable positional battle in Lakers' camp is for the fourth guard spot, presumably between Max Christie, Prince and Cam Reddish.

Christie was the first Laker off the bench. In a team-high 25 minutes, the 20-year-old dropped a confident 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He looked for his shot and put the ball on the floor with conviction — precisely what Ham wants to see. His added muscle stood out, especially on a tough drive to the cup in the second half.

“He's a guy that's gonna be one of our most versatile basketball players on the roster,” Ham declared postgame. “He can guard multiple positions, from the 1 to the 3 and some 4s. … Offensively, he can catch and shoot with the best of 'em, and I want him to be comfortable shooting that 3 and also playing downhill.”

“He does it all,” said AD. “Ultimate confidence. There's a lot of things you can say about Max, but he's putting it all together.”

 

Christie cemented his status as the frontrunner for backup wing. Reddish, unfortunately, struggled from the field (0-for-4) before spraining his right ankle in the fourth quarter.

3) Jalen Hood-Schifino can learn from D'Angelo Russell

Like Christie, Hood-Schifino has repeatedly been singled out for his strong showing in the first week of camp.

The rookie had a rickety debut. He shot 3-of-12 (1-for-5 from 3), forced a few shots, committed three careless (nervous) turnovers, and seemed uncertain in the halfcourt. On the plus side, the coaches will be pleased with his aggression. He grabbed six boards.

JHS is a smooth operator. His most useful attribute — in addition to his size (6'6) and vision — is slyly turning his slower pace into an advantage. Ditto for DLo.

Russell eased into his spots and carved up the Dubs' defense. In 16 minutes, he posted 15 points (6-of-10 FG), 5 assists, no turnovers, and a team-high +8. He coolly set up his shot and his teammates in pick and rolls. His minutes alongside Gabe Vincent were promising.

“I can play with a lot of different lineups, but I feel like my strength when I play great is when I have another point guard next to me,” said Russell.

Hood-Schifino should closely study Russell (if he's not already). In my favorite sequence of the evening, Russell cleverly found the rookie under the basket on an inbounds pass then drilled a fast-break a 3 off an assist from Hood-Schifino (9:18 in the video below):

2) AD's jumper is coming along

Since Reaves hyped up Davis' shot at LeBron's minicamp, Lakers fans have been buzzing. (Davis shot 57.7% on jumpers in the 2019-20 playoffs. He made 34.0% of 15-19 footers and 26.0% of 3s the next season. He shot 18.6% from 3 in 2021-22 and 25.7% in 2023-24.)

Davis, for his part, has downplayed the state of his J.

“Not sure where it’s at until we get into practices and games,” he noted at Media Day. “Anybody can shoot in workouts and make shots when there’s no pressure on them. So, we’ll see when camp comes around and preseason games and throughout the course of the regular season. But I feel good.”

After bullying Kevon Looney for a while out of the gates, Davis splashed consecutive triples as a trailer in semi-transition during a second-quarter spree. He finished with 15 points and 5 rebounds in 13 minutes.

“I was open. That's really it,” said Davis. “I thought our guards did a great job of penetrating the defense and finding open guys.”

 

The Lakers halfcourt offense has been middle-of-the-road for two years. It has the potential to be unguardable if Davis becomes a consistent three-level scorer, again.

AD's (short-lived) dominance was the most positive takeaway of the night for Los Angeles.

“The thing that I'm tickled by is the joy you see in his face as he's playing,” said Ham. “I see a lot of joy in his face. His body is feeling good, he's feeling good about his game. He's put in a lot of work this summer. He's hungry as ever,— he and Bron both. And that trickles down to the rest of our team. But he's playing with an extremely high level of joy.”

1) Two-big lineups are, officially, back

Davis exclusively played center in 2022-23. He informed the Lakers he'd rather not do so again.

It didn't take long for Ham to confirm that the message was heard.

So far in camp, AD has scrimmaged at power forward, paired with Christian Wood or Jaxson Hayes. As rusty as he might've been with the playbook, he seemed relieved to “stay out of 100 pick and rolls a game.”

Ham started Davis at center on Saturday, despite LeBron's absence. With 5:44 remaining in the first quarter, Wood subbed in — for Vanderbilt. Davis played with Hayes towards the end of the second quarter. The Lakers were more effective with Davis at the 5 — and predictably struggled when he rested — but, of course, it's just the first exhibition.

Lakers' remaining preseason schedule:

  • Oct. 9 — Nets at Lakers (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas)
  • Oct. 11 — Kings at Lakers (Honda Center, Anaheim)
  • Oct. 13 — Warriors at Lakers (Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles)
  • Oct. 15 — Bucks at Lakers (Crypto.com Arena)
  • Oct. 19 — Suns at Lakers (Acrisure Arena, Palm Springs)