The Los Angeles Lakers' 2026 preseason schedule is now in the books. They wrapped it up on Friday by hosting the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena, and once again, they weren't fully healthy. Guard Collin Sexton, who is expected to be a big contributor this season, missed the entire preseason with a leg injury, and forward Adou Thiero and guard Cameron Carr also didn't play.
The team looked disjointed, especially on offense early, and coach JJ Redick said it looked like his players weren't ready to play, at least from an energy standpoint. The Lakers committed many turnovers early as Denver regularly blitzed Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. They started to settle down in that department later, but they still trailed 62-55 at halftime.
They got to within 88-86 early in the fourth quarter, but as was the case in Tuesday's 101-89 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Redick went with a ragtag lineup down the stretch that consisted of fringe players such as Bronny James, Dalton Knecht and Chris Mañon. The Lakers fell behind by a sizable margin and couldn't make up ground, resulting in a 121-106 loss.
Still, four players performed relatively well and seem to be ready and prepared for the team's regular-season opener on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Ziaire Williams
Williams, a 6-foot-9 forward the Lakers signed to a minimum contract during the summer, missed their last three games. But he returned on Friday and made a definite contribution.
He scored 14 points and made all but one of his six field-goal attempts while hitting both of his 3-point tries. Outside shooting has been a weak link for him -- he made just 34.3% of his 3-point attempts, which was a career high, last season. But in his two exhibition games this month, there have been indications that perhaps he's turning the corner in that department.
Sandro Mamukelashvili
Mamukelashvili has looked every bit as good as advertised -- and then some -- throughout the preseason. He has appeared in each preseason game, and on Friday, he was impactful.
He finished with 15 points on 5-of-10 overall shooting and 3-of-7 from downtown, eight rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in just 21 minutes. He did a good job of contributing to L.A.'s transition game by getting a couple of fast-break dunks and pushing the ball off defensive rebounds.
The big man is poised to be a major part of the team's success.
Quentin Grimes
The two-way wing came off the bench on Friday, but he still played 28 minutes and dropped 11 points while making half of his six 3-point attempts. He also added three assists without committing a single turnover.
His shot selection and decision-making off the dribble can be a bit loose and questionable at times. But he has the ability to give the Lakers a lift on both ends of the floor.
Jaden Hardy
Hardy went 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point land, giving him 13 points in just 14 minutes. He has always been a dependable 3-point shooter, and even though most of the rest of his game is generally flawed, he appears capable of giving the Lakers serviceable minutes in a pinch, especially if they lose at least one of their main ball-handlers to injury.
This article originally appeared on Lakers Wire: Four Lakers players who did well in Friday's loss to the Nuggets