Lineup versatility will define the Lakers in 2026-27, but JJ Redick will feel the weight of this season long before he settles on a closing five. For the first time since 2017-18, Los Angeles enters a season without LeBron James on its roster. His move to Philadelphia ended an eight-year Lakers run that delivered the 2020 championship and reshaped the franchise around one of basketball’s defining stars. Now the keys belong completely to Luka Dončić.
That transfer of power changes everything.
Redick no longer has to balance two generational offensive forces. Instead, he must build the cleanest possible ecosystem around Dončić while keeping Austin Reaves involved as a genuine second creator. The front office has given him options. Walker Kessler brings size. Kevon Looney brings force and experience. Quentin Grimes and Matisse Thybulle can strengthen the perimeter. Collin Sexton adds speed with the ball.
On paper, those choices look enviable.
In a playoff series, they become pressure points. Redick has to know which combinations can survive Oklahoma City’s speed, protect the glass, punish switches, defend without hiding multiple players, and still leave Dončić enough room to control the game.
The Lakers have changed eras. Now their coach has to give the new one an identity.
A 53-win team just changed its identity
Los Angeles did not spend the summer repairing a lottery team.
The Lakers went 53-29 last season and finished fourth in the Western Conference. Their offense ranked ninth in efficiency, but the larger profile exposed weaknesses beneath the record. Los Angeles finished only 14th in net rating at +1.8 and ranked 27th in rebounding at 41.0 per game.
Then Oklahoma City ended their season with a four-game sweep in the Western Conference semifinals.
Dončić missed that series because of the hamstring strain he suffered in April. Reaves had also been injured during the same late-season stretch. LeBron carried a battered team as far as he could before Oklahoma City closed Game 4, 115-110.
Three months later, almost everything around Dončić looked different.
James left for Philadelphia. Deandre Ayton, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Luke Kennard, and Marcus Smart also departed. Los Angeles added Kessler, Grimes, Sexton, Thybulle, Looney, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jaden Hardy, and Ziaire Williams.
This was not cosmetic turnover.
The front office gave Redick several distinct player types rather than building one obvious starting unit and seven backups. That makes lineup versatility the foundation of the new roster.
It also places more responsibility on the coach.
Having options matters only when Redick knows which one fits the problem in front of him.
Dončić gives every lineup the same starting point
One creator can support several identities
Any discussion of Lakers lineups begins with Luka Dončić.
He produced 33.5 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.7 rebounds across 64 games for Los Angeles last season, earning All-NBA First Team honors and winning the league scoring title. His 33.5-point average became the fifth-highest single-season scoring mark in Lakers history.
Those numbers explain only part of his value.
Dončić can determine the geometry of a possession before he shoots. Send a second defender toward him, and somebody opens. Switch a smaller player onto him, and he can bury that defender near the block. Drop the center too far, and he walks into the middle of the floor. Bring the big higher, and the lob or weak-side pass appears.
That control gives Redick freedom.
Kessler can become a massive vertical target in high pick-and-roll. Mamukelashvili can drag a center away from the rim and create five-out spacing. Grimes can occupy a corner while handling a difficult defensive assignment. Looney can screen, re-screen, and turn a possession into the kind of physical wrestling match Dončić usually enjoys.
The best use of lineup versatility is not to change the offense every six minutes. It is to give Dončić several ways to reach the same destination.
If a defense blitzes, Los Angeles needs a reliable four-on-three attack behind the trap. If opponents switch, the Lakers need cutters and offensive rebounders who punish the resulting mismatches. When teams load the paint, Redick needs enough shooting to make that choice painful.
Dončić supplies the advantage.
His teammates have to turn it into points.
Austin Reaves changes Redick’s rotation math
His scoring jump created a second offensive pillar
Austin Reaves no longer belongs in the convenient category of complementary Lakers guard.
His scoring climbed from 7.3 points per game as a rookie to a career-high 23.3 last season. He also averaged 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds across 51 appearances, starting 45 of them.
The leap came with a larger offensive burden.
Reaves attacked more often as a primary creator, reached the foul line, ran pick-and-roll, and carried possessions when Los Angeles needed someone other than Dončić to bend the defense. His 51-point performance at Sacramento on October 26, 2025 offered the loudest example. Reaves attacked all night, repeatedly forcing Sacramento to choose between fouling him and surrendering clean looks.
That growth stretched far beyond one eruption.
Reaves scored in double figures in every regular-season game he played. Together, he and Dončić averaged 56.8 points per game, making them the NBA’s highest-scoring duo.
Redick now has to decide how much to separate his two best creators.
Keeping Reaves beside Dončić gives the Lakers two players who can initiate, manipulate help, and attack a scrambling defense. Staggering them gives Los Angeles a high-level organizer for almost every important minute.
Both approaches have value.
The additions of Sexton and Grimes make the second option much easier. Sexton averaged 15.4 points last season and gives Los Angeles a guard who wants to attack the paint immediately. Grimes averaged 13.4 points while offering more size and defensive utility.
A Dončić-Grimes backcourt can preserve shooting and improve point-of-attack defense while Reaves rests. Reaves and Sexton can overwhelm second units with repeated drives. Against stronger perimeter scorers, Grimes may make more sense beside both stars than another offense-first guard.
That is where lineup versatility becomes practical rather than theoretical.
Redick can alter the supporting cast without removing the offense’s two most important decision-makers.
The frontcourt can finally answer different questions
Kessler changes the paint while Looney changes the fight
The Lakers’ rebounding problem cannot become a footnote.
Finishing 27th on the glass creates consequences everywhere. Defensive stops turn into second shots. Smaller groups struggle to run because they cannot secure the ball. Guards have to collapse toward the rim instead of leaking into transition.
Walker Kessler offers the most direct correction.
At 7-foot-2 and 245 pounds, Kessler averaged 10.8 rebounds last season despite an injury-shortened year. His length gives Los Angeles a true back-line deterrent. On offense, Dončić gains the sort of enormous lob target who can make a rotating weak-side defender feel helpless.
Looney solves different problems.
He spent a decade learning how to survive high-level playoff possessions with Golden State. The box score rarely explains his impact. Screens land. Bodies get moved. Missed shots stay alive. He has appeared in 89 postseason games and once led the NBA in offensive rebounds.
That experience should matter when a series becomes physical.
Mamukelashvili completes the contrast. His shooting can pull a traditional center toward the arc and clear the lane for Dončić or Reaves. The cost comes at the other end, where Redick would sacrifice some of Kessler’s rim protection and Looney’s strength.
That is not a flaw in the roster construction.
It is the purpose of lineup versatility.
Against one opponent, Kessler’s size may become indispensable. Another matchup could reward Looney’s screening and rebounding instincts. A slower center might force Redick toward Mamukelashvili because the Lakers can attack him in space.
The important part is having a choice.
The perimeter defense finally has specialists
A playoff series eventually becomes personal.
Coaches find the defender they want to attack, call him into the action, and keep doing it until the opponent changes something. One vulnerable matchup can swallow an entire fourth-quarter game plan.
The Lakers now possess more ways to fight back.
Matisse Thybulle gives Redick a two-time All-Defensive selection who still creates chaos away from the ball. He averaged 2.0 steals in only 16.0 minutes per game last season. More intriguingly, he hit 39.8 percent from three, although the volume remained modest.
That last detail could determine his postseason usefulness.
If teams have to honor Thybulle in the corner, his defense becomes much easier to keep on the floor. If they ignore him, Redick will need movement around him rather than allowing a second defender to sit in Dončić’s driving lane.
Grimes offers a more conventional two-way option. At 6-foot-5, he can absorb difficult guard assignments while preserving spacing.
Ziaire Williams gives Los Angeles another shape entirely. The 6-foot-9 wing averaged career highs of 10.2 points and 1.4 steals last season. His length gives Redick another potential answer against teams with bigger perimeter scorers.
Jarred Vanderbilt remains another useful lever.
His shooting can still complicate spacing, so he cannot simply stand in the corner while defenders roam. Vanderbilt has to punish that treatment by cutting behind ball-watchers, screening for Dončić, or crashing the offensive glass.
No one player covers every matchup.
That is why the group works.
Redick can use Thybulle when disruption matters most. Grimes may close when Los Angeles needs the cleanest balance between defense and shooting. Williams offers additional length when smaller guards become vulnerable. Vanderbilt can turn a game into a more physical contest.
Instead of asking one defender to survive every problem, the Lakers can change the problem.
Small lineups should create speed not surrender size
Here lies one of Redick’s most dangerous temptations.
Put Dončić, Reaves, Sexton, and Grimes together, and the Lakers can attack a defense from several angles. A slow-footed center could spend an entire shift retreating from drives, closing toward shooters, and turning back toward another ballhandler.
That unit could run opposing bigs off the floor through repeated drive-and-kick possessions.
It could also get demolished on the glass.
Last season already showed the cost of weak rebounding. Redick cannot solve one problem by recreating another. Four skilled guards do not automatically produce a functional small-ball unit.
The better versions may not look particularly small.
Kessler can anchor the paint behind three guards and a wing. Williams gives Redick 6-foot-9 size without forcing the offense into a traditional two-big alignment. Mamukelashvili can play center when spacing outweighs rim protection.
Those groups can still push tempo.
More importantly, they can finish possessions.
Smart lineup versatility means changing the way a team plays without surrendering the basic requirements of playoff basketball. The Lakers still have to rebound. They still have to protect the rim. Somebody still has to defend the opponent’s best scorer.
Speed matters only if Los Angeles earns the ball first.
The bench should change games rather than survive them
The best contenders rarely treat non-star minutes as dead time.
Los Angeles now has enough creation to attack those stretches.
Sexton can turn a quiet possession into a paint touch almost immediately. Hardy brings another self-creator. Grimes does not need the ball for long stretches to affect a game. Mamukelashvili can stretch a second-unit center. Looney can manufacture extra possessions without having a play called for him.
Those pieces give Redick far more flexibility when Dončić sits.
They also create uncomfortable decisions.
Sexton might play 28 minutes one night and lose closing time to Thybulle the next. Grimes could finish games without starting them. Looney may matter enormously in a physical matchup, then give way to a shooting five two nights later.
That can test a locker room.
Redick’s communication will matter almost as much as his whiteboard. Matchup-based rotations work only when players understand the logic behind them. A player who knows exactly why he lost minutes can prepare for the next assignment. A player who feels the rotation changes randomly starts pressing.
For lineup versatility to become an advantage, Redick must make fluid roles feel stable.
That balance may become one of his hardest coaching jobs.
Redick needs his answers before April
Training camp will start with the obvious debate: Who starts?
That question matters less than it sounds.
Redick needs to discover which five can close against speed. He needs another group for size. Los Angeles should know which lineup can protect a lead, which one can chase a deficit, and which combination keeps the offense alive when Dončić rests.
Those answers cannot remain experimental forever.
November gives Redick room to explore. January should reveal patterns. By March, the Lakers need a clear hierarchy of combinations they trust under pressure.
The Western Conference will force that clarity.
Oklahoma City already provided the harshest lesson. Even without Dončić, the Lakers saw how quickly the defending champions could stress every weak point with guards, length, and relentless pace. Other contenders will ask different questions. Some will attack the glass. Others will switch every screen or force Dončić to defend repeated actions.
No permanent closing five will solve all of them.
That is why lineup versatility will define the Lakers in 2026-27. Redick now has enough size, creation, shooting, and defensive specialists to change a game’s geometry without changing its central star.
The roster gives him options. April will judge the choices.
By the postseason, Redick should not be searching for his best five players. He should know the best five for the possession in front of him.
READ ALSO: Clippers Bench Shooting Could Make or Break the 2026-27 Season
FAQs
Why will Lakers lineup versatility matter in 2026-27?
Los Angeles can play with more size, shooting, defense or ballhandling. JJ Redick can tailor his lineups to different opponents and playoff matchups.
Who will the Lakers build around after LeBron James?
Luka Dončić becomes the clear centerpiece. Austin Reaves gives the Lakers a proven second creator beside him.
How does Walker Kessler change the Lakers?
Kessler gives Los Angeles more rim protection, rebounding and vertical size. Those skills directly address weaknesses from last season.
Could Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić play fewer minutes together?
Yes. Redick can stagger their minutes so one high-level creator runs the offense for most of the game.
What is JJ Redick’s biggest lineup challenge?
He must find groups that score without sacrificing defense and rebounding. By the playoffs, those matchup decisions need to feel automatic.
Tracking stats and settling debates. If there is a scoreboard, I am watching it.
