Lakers still sorting out the final two starters, with JJ Redick offering both clarity and uncertainty

Los Angeles has one of the NBA’s more specific preseason questions hanging over it: the Lakers are still determining their final two starters. Coach JJ Redick addressed the issue after being asked about the club’s potential Opening Night starting lineup on Sept. 24, and his answer captured the tension of a late-stage lineup decision, with a mix of clarity, humor, and continued uncertainty reported by Yahoo Sports.

That distinction matters because “finalizing the lineup” is rarely a single, clean choice in the NBA. Even when a team has a stable core, two starting spots can represent the difference between a more defined rotation and a more flexible one, especially with the league’s emphasis on lineup matchups at both ends of the floor. For a team like the Lakers, where every preseason iteration is evaluated against what the regular-season roles will become, the last adjustments can shape how quickly bench players are integrated as game pressure rises.

Redick’s comments, first reported in the Yahoo Sports piece, point to a team still refining the best combination for its opening stretch rather than simply announcing a finished blueprint. With the final two slots unresolved, the Lakers’ staff still appears to be weighing how their strongest lineups fit together across a full game, not just in individual exhibition stretches.

The practical impact of those unresolved spots is straightforward: once the Lakers decide, their remaining rotation decisions tend to “lock in” around it. If a particular pairing becomes the team’s preferred first-unit look, the lineup choices for the second unit often follow, affecting spacing, defensive assignments, and which players are most likely to receive early-game minutes against the opponent’s own starters.

From a coaching and communication standpoint, the reported blend of clarity and humor also fits the modern NBA reality. Coaches frequently use late-preseason lineup questions as a way to confirm what they value while keeping their most important tactical details from becoming too predictable. Even when teams are close, confirming exact starters can invite opponents to prepare their game plans around those matchups immediately.

For fans, the key takeaway is that the Lakers’ roster picture is not static, even this late into the process. The final two starters will be the most visible reflection of what Redick and his staff believe the team’s best identity is at the start of the regular season, whether that identity leans more toward a certain style of defense, shooting profile, or transition pace.

What to watch next is not just who is named, but how the rest of the rotation responds once those two spots are settled. After the Lakers finalize their Opening Night configuration, the knock-on effects typically show up in who starts, who closes, and which bench players become the most frequent “bridge” options between first-unit and second-unit minutes.

If the Lakers remain indecisive longer than expected, it would suggest the decision is driven less by one individual’s performance and more by how two specific roles interact. In that case, the staff likely continues to compare combinations in live game conditions to determine which two-man foundation gives them the most reliable advantage over a range of opponents early in the season.