Should Dalton Knecht Stay in the Starting Lineup? Plus, D'Angelo Russell and JJ Redick Discuss D'Lo's "role."

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers are riding a five-game winning streak, with a very good chance to make it six tonight at home against the 3-10 Utah Jazz.

So while the hot start—the Lakers wake up Tuesday morning as the 3rd seed in the West—has fans rightly excited, it's not all they're talking about. First-rounder Dalton Knecht has, after a shaky start, grown red hot as a shooter. This, of course, is what he was drafted to do, but adjusting to the NBA, even for the most talented rookies, is a challenge. For most players, it takes a little time. And it's too early to say that a weekend's worth of good games from Knecht, inserted into the starting lineup thanks to an injury to Rui Hachimura, has fully adjusted and "arrived," so to speak. But with Knecht shooting over 50% from three in his last four games, and his overall percentages improving, it's not too early to recognize the impact he's capable of having on the team.

Would the Lakers be better off getting him into the starting lineup?

Generally speaking, an argument can be made that the purpose of an NBA rotation is to get the best players on the floor as much as possible. Obviously, context plays a role, here. Teams might not have the roster balance to find "starters minutes" for every player if the talent is clustered around one position. "Best" might not mean the totality of a player's skill set, but one really, really big piece of it - say high volume 3-point shooting. Like Knecht. Or maybe it's a situation where strengths and weaknesses don't align properly, so one person needs to be split from the "best players" group.

That's what's happened with D'Angelo Russell, who was sent to the bench in part because the Lakers were suffering too much defensively when he and Austin Reaves shared the court. Monday at practice, JJ Redick pushed back against the idea Russell is playing a different role on the team. His role is more being reallocated. Whether you buy that logic or not - I suspect Russell doesn't at least not fully - it's worked. The Lakers haven't lost since making the move, and Redick praised Russell's adjustment both to Redick's offense and the rotation change at length on Monday.

However you want to define these things, roles could be changing in significant ways vs. what was expected going into camp.

In other news, Hachimura is questionable for tonight's game, Reddish practiced (making him far more likely to play) and Pat Riley is getting a statue!

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers might have some reinforcements back tonight.

SEGMENT 2: Should Dalton Knecht be a starter?

SEGMENT 3: What's a role, anyway? Redick tries to define it, and Russell tries to live it.

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