Frank Vogel and the Lakers held LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Trevor Ariza, and Carmelo Anthony out of their preseason opener against the Nets (Lakers lost 123-97). After Tuesday’s practice, Vogel talked about who will and will not play in the Lakers in their second preseason game when they take on the Suns on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. PST. LeBron, Westbrook, and Ariza will remain out for tomorrow’s game, but Carmelo will make his debut in the purple-and-gold (h/t Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll).
Per Frank Vogel, Russ and LeBron won't play tomorrow. Melo and AD will play, and either Dwight or DJ will sit tomorrow.
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) October 5, 2021
Vogel also added that either Dwight Howard or DeAndre Jordan will sit out the game. This seems to alude to the idea that the Lakers will test out some small-ball lineups tomorrow with Anthony Davis possibly starting at the five. In Sunday’s game against the Nets, the Lakers were without anyone that would normally play the four for them as LeBron, Ariza, and Carmelo all sat causing AD to have to play all of the power forward minutes in his limited time playing (he only played in the first quarter). Now that Carmelo is playing, he can take over some of the responsibilities at the four.
Ariza missed practice again with his continuing sore ankle.
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) October 5, 2021
Two preseason games will pass without Trevor Ariza second career debut as a Laker, as Harrison Faigen also reports that he missed practice entirely today with a sore ankle. The ankle was the reason for Ariza’s absence in Sunday’s game, as he also missed the Saturday practice prior to it. Hopefully the injury is more a reflection of Ariza and the team being cautious as it is a reflection of how bad the injury is.
Vogel’s decision regarding Dwight or DAJ will be interesting, as it may give a hint as to which center Vogel prefers at this current juncture. Still, it may only be a reflection of what Vogel is curious of as he may just want to see as many lineup examples as he can with such a new team.
Either way, the real thing to take away from this all is that we get to see another future hall-of-famer don the Lakers uniform in Carmelo Anthony! It should be fun to see him out there.
