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The end of the NBA preseason is not only bringing attention to the Lakers’ starting lineup and rotation decisions.
It’s also bringing their roster crunch back into focus.
With the Lakers playing their last exhibition against the Nuggets on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, they’ll soon have to make a final decision on how they’re going to comply with the league’s roster rules by early next week.
It’s a decision they’ve been having to face since they put the roster together throughout July, entering training camp with 16 players signed to guaranteed contracts — one more than 15 legally allowed during the regular season.
“Going from 16 guys to 15 guys, we have until Opening Night for the competition to sort of play out and see who the best 15 players are,” Rob Pelinka, Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager, said in late September. “Behind that evaluation of who’s emerging in camp, there’s also consolidation trades that can still be looked at, trading two guys out, bringing one in. So there’s a number of ways that that could be addressed, and the back-end point of it will be before we play the Warriors. So, the next month will kinda answer those questions.”
And the Lakers will provide those answers soon.
The expectation throughout the league is that either Dalton Knecht and Jaden Hardy will be one of the odd men out.
The Lakers have explored trades involving both players, but the third-year wing and veteran guard remained on the roster entering the team’s final preseason game after the team hadn’t found traction on a preferred deal.
If the Lakers can’t find a trade and decide to waive a player, league personnel expect that to be Knecht.
But a decision hasn’t been made yet — leaving time and opportunity for the Lakers to go another route.
While the Lakers, like every other NBA team, don’t have to have their Opening Night roster set until 2 p.m. PT on Monday — with the regular season starting on Tuesday and the Lakers hosting the Warriors for their first regular-season game on Wednesday — the decision could come this week.
Hardy, whom the Lakers acquired from the Wizards in July in the trade that sent Deandre Ayton to Washington, addressed the Lakers’ pending roster decision after Friday morning’s shootaround.
“For me, I just came here [with] a clear head, clear-minded, new situation,” Hardy said. “New opportunity. It’s a blessing to be here.”
Does he feel any anxiety knowing the roster crunch is looming?
“Nah, I mean, it’s in God’s hands,” Hardy said. “I’m blessed to be here.”