Although they have lost their first two games of the preseason, the Lakers have been ridiculously fun to watch with LeBron James at the helm. Playing at an absurd pace of 112.18 possessions per 48 minutes (which is somehow only the fourth highest mark among the league as of this preview) the team has given its fans a sizzle reel’s worth of highlights thus far, culminating in James’ Staples Center debut this past Tuesday. In only 14 minutes of action in front of his new home crowd, James notched 13 points (5-6 from the field) to go along with three rebounds and three assists while also being a game-high +13 in the box score. Another Lakers’ offseason addition, JaVale McGee, also impressed with his consecutive solid outing against the Denver Nuggets in Tuesday’s loss. McGee — who has thus far shown the ability to dwarf Inspector Gadget’s catch radius — has excelled in his defined role early on with the Purple and Gold. While his two-game averages of 16 points, 7.5 rebounds, and three blocks are impressive, the most notable number in regards to his play is the amount of minutes he has played so far. Through two preseason contests, McGee has appeared in an average of nearly 19.5 minutes a game, and while the number may seem low compared to other NBA starters around the league, the mark would be his highest total since his 2011-12 campaign. Hampered by asthma-related restrictions throughout his career, Luke Walton recently shared the team currently does not have any minute limitations in place for McGee. If he proves capable of handling an extended workload this season, this will be good news considering his early strong play, and the team being without their recent first-round-pick, Moe Wagner, for at least the duration of the preseason. On the subject of injury updates, it sounds like the team won’t get last year’s number-two-overall pick — Lonzo Ball — back in time for their match-up with the Sacramento Kings. Making notable progress of late since recovering from his meniscus injury and subsequent surgery, Ball has yet to play in the team's preseason but indications are he should be ready to go sooner rather than later. Although their opponents in this contest, the Kings, will likely not prove to be among the upper echelon of the Western Conference this upcoming season, they do have a hoard of bigs that will offer another good test for the Lakers’ small-ball scheme. Out-rebounded in both of their first two games, the Lakers are still trying to find the right combinations that allow them to play small while without getting taken advantage of in the paint. Fortunately for the Lakers, the Kings, like most teams, do not possess the singular talent Denver has in Nikola Jokic that can exploit a size and girth advantage and dilute the negatives of going small. That being said, it will be interesting to see how the Lakers’ switching lineups fare against the Kings’ front court pieces, especially if they decide to roll out this marvel again: For those who missed it, last night Dave Joerger played a lineup with Willie Cauley-Stein, Harry Giles, Marvin Bagley, and Skal Labissiere all on the floor at the same time. He played Skal at the 2. — Greg (@gwiss) October 2, 2018 Time: 7:30 p.m. PT TV: Spectrum SportsNet | NBA TV Stats provided by NBA.com<doc-sep>The Los Angeles Lakers were by far the most active team in the offseason. After years of planning, their machinations have borne fruit. LeBron James is now a Laker. He has brought with him an eclectic group of veterans that will combine with the young players already in place to give the Lakers one of the most interesting rosters in all of basketball. But now, the offseason is officially over. The moves have been made. The roster is largely set. It's time for the new-look Lakers to take the floor for the first time. The question coming into the season was how exactly the Lakers would juggle all of these players. They have more guards and wings than they know what to do with, but very little in the way of size at center. They don't yet have an identity as a team, and building one begins by figuring out who deserves to actually be on the floor. The preseason will go a long way in doing just that. Here are the players that the Lakers and the Nuggets have decided to start tonight's preseason game with.<doc-sep>Harry How/Getty Images Los Angeles Lakers forward Michael Beasley suffered a right rib contusion Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings and was ruled out after playing 11 minutes, according to Lakers Nation. This is just the latest injury concern for Beasley, who has had to deal with knee ailments in each of the past couple of seasons. He also left the Lakers' preseason opener after just six minutes because of a head laceration. While he may not be living up to the billing of a No. 2 overall pick, Beasley has proved he can provide productive minutes. The 29-year-old, who is on his fifth team in five years, is coming off one of his better seasons. As a New York Knick in 2017-18, the 6'9", 235-pound forward averaged 13.2 points on 50.7 percent shooting, including 39.5 percent from three-point range. Los Angeles did its best to build a roster around prized free-agent signing LeBron James. ESPN's Chris Haynes reported that James respects Beasley's game, as the two were also teammates with the Miami Heat in 2013-14. That coupled with a bounce-back showing in New York last season led to a reunion in Hollywood. As NBA.com's Joey Ramirez noted in October, Lakers coach Luke Walton has experimented with putting Beasley at the five in order to help the team space the floor. An effective small-ball lineup can be a difference-maker in the modern NBA, so if Beasley can give Los Angeles quality minutes at center, that's when the offense could fully realize its potential. Video Play Button Videos you might like After a busy offseason, the Lakers have some depth at forward to get by without Beasley if necessary. James can play any position, and Brandon Ingram, Lance Stephenson, Kyle Kuzma and Moritz Wagner give Luke Walton options to mix and match at forward.<doc-sep>
The LeBron James era in Los Angeles has gotten off to a bit of a bumpy start, with two losses to the Denver Nuggets in their first two preseason games. Yes, it's just preseason, but Lakers fans will still be happier if their team can get on the winning side of things, and they'll have a chance to do so Thursday night when they take on the Sacramento Kings. This will be preseason game No. 2 for the Kings, who recently took down the Phoenix Suns in a battle between the top two picks in this year's draft, the Kings' Marvin Bagley III (No. 2 overall) and the Suns' Deandre Ayton (No. 1 overall). How to watch Kings at Lakers Date: Thursday Thursday Time: 10:30 p.m. ET 10:30 p.m. ET Location: Staples Center -- Los Angeles Staples Center -- Los Angeles TV: NBA TV NBA TV Streaming: FuboTV FuboTV Follow: GameTracker Analysis It's just preseason, so you don't really want to dive into stats and results, especially when LeBron James is only playing about 15 minutes a night, and training camp invitees are closing out games. However, the Lakers will surely want to put together a better defensive performance against the Kings than they have in the first two preseason tilts against the Nuggets, when they were torched. There's little question the Lakers are going to be able to score, but they'll need to be locked in on the defensive end if they want to cause any problems in the Western Conference, and this is the time to figure out the problems on that end. As for the Kings, this will be another chance for them to start to figure out some lineup combinations and see how their cadre of youngsters play together. Their roster is a little imbalanced, with half a dozen big men who will be eager for playing time -- and probably deserve some as well -- yet limited options on the wing. That could force coach Dave Joerger into some interesting lineup combinations this season, and what better time to experiment than during preseason.