The Los Angeles Lakers announced that Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaxson Hayes have been ruled out of Tuesday night’s preseason game against the Phoenix Suns.
There were no injuries given for any of the players, so it’s reasonable to expect them to sit out Tuesday’s game and then suit up Wednesday night against the Dallas Mavericks in Las Vegas. Having a back-to-back in the preseason certainly isn’t ideal, but this is how the Lakers are choosing to deal with it.
Other players that have been ruled out of Tuesday’s game due to injury include LeBron James, Maxi Kleber, Chris Mañon and Adou Thiero. Kleber appears to be getting closer to a return after missing time due to a quad injury, while the Lakers are being cautious with Mañon and Thiero given their respective injuries early in their careers.
Meanwhile, some key Lakers players are returning to the court against the Suns on Tuesday with Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart expected to make their preseason debuts. They will be joined by the likes of Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, Dalton Knecht and others, giving JJ Redick his closest look at an actual starting lineup so far this preseason.
It would be nice to have other key players like Vincent, Hachimura and Vanderbilt in there as well, but as Redick has said in the past, the Lakers are just playing the cards they are dealt so far this preseason. After the back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Lakers will close out the preseason on Friday night against the Sacramento Kings, giving Redick one final opportunity to get a look at his full rotation before Opening Night.
Rui Hachimura discusses how role changes with Lakers star LeBron James out
The Lakers will be without LeBron James to begin the regular season due to sciatica on his right side, and Rui Hachimura discussed how his role will change as a result.
“I just gotta be more aggressive,” he said after Sunday’s preseason win over the Golden State Warriors. “With him being out, I can attack the rim more because he likes to post up more so when that happens, I have to be more spaced out. So that kind of stuff I can do more when he’s out. So yeah, it’s just a little different but not much. I just gotta do the same things that I’m supposed to do.”
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