(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The biggest question for the Los Angeles Lakers during training camp right now is which player on the squad will be the team’s fifth starter, with Darvin Ham and his coaching staff already naming D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis starters.
With the Lakers being one of the deepest teams heading into the 2023-24 NBA season, the storied franchise has no shortage of options for that fifth starter, with Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood, and Jaxson Hayes being the most likely candidates.
Heading into training camp earlier this week, Ham claimed that the team wasn’t ready to name a fifth starter and would let things play out throughout the week leading to the preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
Apparently, Ham and company have already made up their mind when it comes to that fifth player in the starting lineup, as he admitted on Thursday that the team knows who that player will be, but they won’t reveal it, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
Darvin Ham says the Lakers know who they want to start as the fifth starter but he won’t reveal it yet.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) October 5, 2023
It didn’t take very long for the team to make this decision after being undecided only a few days ago, but after experimenting with different starting lineups during training camp, Ham clearly must’ve seen one player stand out amongst the rest.
With the way the roster is currently constructed, the Lakers coaching staff can’t go wrong with their decision, as it can easily be corrected with a change here or there moving forward, which is a great position to be in with the start of the regular season only a few weeks away.
The post Darvin Ham Admits Lakers Have Identified Their Fifth Starter appeared first on The Cold Wire.