While we can all make an educated guess on who is likely to be in the Lakers Opening Night roster, nothing on that end is set in stone as of Wednesday. However, the Lakers and Mike D’Antoni are already looking ahead to who could potentially start when shooting guard Kobe Bryant returns from his ruptured Achilles.
Many assumed that D’Antoni would start Wes Johnson alongside Bryant upon his return. However, D’Antoni isn’t counting out the idea of starting both Bryant and Young despite their duplicated skill-sets, according to the LA Daily News.
“That’s all up for discussion, but I would expect for him to start and play,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Obviously he’ll adjust because Kobe will have the ball in his hands more. But everybody is going to have to adjust. It’s a welcome adjustment.”
For some, there has been an adjustment playing without Bryant on the floor. For others, when Bryant gets back, they’ll have to adjust to reduced minutes and a reduced role.
The bench unit is improved on what the Lakers had last year with Jordan Farmar, Johnson, Jordan Hill and either Shawne Williams or Chris Kaman coming in as the first big off the bench, and whether Young becomes a part of that unit remains to be seen.
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