The Lakers open their preseason Monday night at the Sacramento Kings, and the biggest story is the same one that has followed this team all month: Luka Doncic is about to play basketball again. He has not played an NBA game since a hamstring injury ended his 2025-26 season in early April.
Coach JJ Redick has said Doncic will play in preseason games, though he has not publicly committed to how many or to how many minutes. I could not confirm whether Doncic is in the opening lineup tonight, so check the team’s final injury report before tip-off.
What Redick is looking for
Redick has been clear that this stretch is about readiness, not results. His words: “The biggest thing for the preseason games is getting into a rhythm, finding some lineup balance, getting into shape, and feeling good about yourself.” Expect limited minutes for the star and a lot of rotation experiments around him.
That approach makes sense. The Lakers won 53 games last season but lost to Oklahoma City in the second round with Doncic sidelined. The best thing preseason can do is prove he is healthy and give him reps with a mostly new group.
A new look around him
LeBron James left in free agency and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, so this is the first Lakers camp built entirely around Doncic. Redick said three starters are set: Doncic, Austin Reaves and center Walker Kessler, whom the Lakers acquired in a trade. The other two spots are open, and Quentin Grimes is described as the favorite for one of them.
Kessler has drawn some of the loudest camp praise. He said he expects Los Angeles to be a nasty defensive team, and Redick has said this is the first time in his three years in L.A. that the pieces fit together. Those are coach and player quotes from camp, so take them with the usual October salt.
My take
The result tonight does not matter. What matters is how Doncic moves and whether he looks comfortable pushing off that hamstring. If all of that looks clean, the Lakers have the pieces of a legitimate contender.
The risk is the same one that sank last spring. A Lakers team that depends this heavily on one player has no margin for another injury. Redick should keep Doncic’s minutes modest through the preseason, even if he looks great.
The regular season starts in a couple of weeks, and the Lakers have time. Use this week to answer the health question first, and the rotation questions will sort themselves out.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
