Lakers aim to keep starting lineup intact after season of uncertainty

LOS ANGELES — The baby blue Minneapolis Lakers throwbacks seem more and more appropriate these days.

The Lakers haven’t called Minnesota home for 60 years, but three members of their starting lineup – D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt – were all recent members of the Timberwolves. And to hear Coach Darvin Ham tell it, they’re going to remain starters for the foreseeable future.

The Lakers have used an NBA-high 30 different starting lineups in 60 games this season, no more than eight games for any one group. But post-trade deadline, Ham wants to give his team the kind of continuity that they haven’t been afforded at any other time.

“When you go into a game, you know what slot you’re in, whether that’s starting, somewhere in the rotation,” Ham said. “Not having that extra stress of ‘who’s out tonight?’ or ‘am I gonna be moved into the starting lineup?’ or ‘how many minutes am I gonna play?’ Guys get to settle into their roles and they really get to go out and try to enhance their performance even more knowing those slots, again, where they’re coming out and who’s gonna be on the floor with them.”

Some of that certainty was possibly thrown for a loop in Thursday’s game, when Russell stepped on Donte DiVincenzo’s foot on the baseline in the first quarter, twisting his right ankle. He was later ruled out for the rest of the game with the sprain, the severity of which was unclear.

But as much as health allows, the Lakers want to keep a good thing going. LeBron James has been one of the loudest voices about the lack of continuity and how it has been a key part of the team’s struggles.

“For the majority of it, when it comes to injuries, we haven’t been on the good side of it the last couple years, the last year and a half,” James said at morning shootaround. “So, it’s good to see that. Right now we feel pretty good and guys are looking forward to getting out and see how much momentum we can develop with this lineup.”

While the moves have attempted to capitalize on the three seasons that Russell, Vanderbilt and Beasley spent together in Minnesota (though Vanderbilt and Beasley were most recently on the Utah Jazz), the change also thrust Dennis Schröder, Troy Brown, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves into the bench rotation. At the moment, Lonnie Walker IV and rookie Max Christie are out of the rotation altogether.

But positivity has dominated the Lakers’ spirits since the trade deadline, a sense enhanced by winning two of their three games right before All-Star break. Ham balked slightly when asked if tension had lifted in the locker room since the trade deadline – seemingly not wanting to lay that at any of the outgoing players’ feet – but put the silver lining spin on his response.

“I think guys are just excited to be in a place where there’s no more trade deadline looming,” he said. “The moves that were made were made to enhance what we’ve got going on already, and I just think guys can just be comfortable and settle in with their teammates and go out and play some fun basketball and compete, knowing that we’re all pulling in the same direction.”