Lakers outline starting lineup

With the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason debut fast approaching, the first signs of new coach Darvin Ham’s impact on the team are beginning to reveal themselves.

For starters, Ham said Friday that guard Kendrick Nunn and center Damian Jones have joined LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook in his preferred starting lineup so far in training camp.

And after L.A. had an 0-6 record in the preseason last year, with James only appearing in two of those games, we’ll see more of the Lakers star on the court heading into the regular season.

“Last year was last year,” James said after practice. “That’s in the past. It’s about how much work we can do day in and day out this year and get better. That’s all that matters.”

Nunn’s inclusion in the first unit illustrates how much of a difference it is from a year ago, as the 27-year-old missed all of last season with a bone bruise in his right knee. Now he looks ready to contribute the way the Lakers planned. L.A. committed the entire mid-level exception of its contributors to sign Nunn in the summer of 2021 as its top free agent, filling out the rest of the roster with veteran minimum deals.

“Kendrick today was killing it,” guard Austin Reaves said. “I don’t think he missed a shot all day.”

Ham said Nunn impressed him during his workouts during the offseason and continued that in camp.

“It’s almost like he’s a new player, he’s a free agent for us,” Ham said. “So, I told him he’s going to be a big part of what I’m trying to do and he embraced it and it shows by his play so far.”

Jones, who played with Los Angeles in 2020-21 on a series of 10-day contracts, gives the Lakers a fresh look at center after James, Davis, DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard filled the role last season.

“Damian is a very young, athletic center,” Ham said of Jones. “He runs like a deer. He can jump to the ceiling. He’s really defensive-minded. He tries to protect the rim. He sets good screens. He rolls hard. Creates a constant threat at the rim. Again, he’ll be a defensive presence in the paint. “

Ham will likely tinker with the complementary pieces of the Lakers’ franchise players to find the most impactful combination. None of that will work unless there is an established comfort level between the role players and James, who will control the offensive action as he always does.

As such, giving James a little more energy on the exhibition slate, even if he’s 37 years old and entering his 20th season, could be more beneficial than trying to preserve him long-term.

“We don’t want to go crazy, but we also want it to be enough so we can establish a rhythm, we can be in game mode with a good rhythm heading into the regular season,” Ham said of James.

While it’s unlikely to see James play in all six games on the Lakers’ preseason roster, the four-time champion and the team are making a correction from last year’s approach when James only appeared in the Lakers’ third and sixth games on the preseason schedule. However, exactly how much James will play is still being figured out.

“More than I played last year,” James said of his expected preseason workload. “More than I played last year.”