Quentin Grimes Is Starting Next to Luka Doncic While Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler Sit

Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler have now missed both of the Los Angeles Lakers' preseason games, and the lineup JJ Redick has used without them is giving fantasy drafters an early look at who wins the two open starting spots. Reaves tweaked his ankle and Kessler jammed a finger on the backboard before Monday's opener in Sacramento. Redick called both players fine and listed them as day-to-day, and neither injury is considered serious.

With his two most important complementary players out, Redick opened Monday's game against the Kings with Luka Doncic, Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams and Kevon Looney. The Lakers won 127-103, led by as many as 33, shot 50 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three, and forced 26 turnovers with 15 steals.

The second night of the back-to-back went the other way. Doncic, Thybulle and Williams joined Reaves, Kessler, Collin Sexton and Arthur Kaluma on the bench in San Francisco, and a short-handed Lakers group lost 124-98 to the Warriors on Tuesday.

What the opener showed

Doncic played 16 minutes, all in the first half, and scored 21 points with three assists and two steals while getting to the line repeatedly. It was his first NBA game action in roughly six months, and it looked like the version of him the Lakers were promising at media day, when the team said he had no restrictions.

The more telling story was the defense. Redick said it was the first time in his tenure that he felt the roster had multiple players capable of handling point-of-attack responsibility. The Lakers call their full-court ball pressure the "line of confrontation," and the group doing it on Monday was Williams, Thybulle, Adou Thiero and Grimes. That scheme is the reason the opener produced 15 steals, and it is the clearest signal yet of how the wing minutes will be distributed.

Grimes added 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Williams had 13 points and went 3-for-3 from three.

The two open spots

Redick has said publicly that two starting spots are up for grabs beside Doncic, Reaves and Kessler. Local coverage after Monday's game described Grimes as the front-runner for one of them because of his three-and-D profile, and the opener did nothing to change that. The fifth spot looks like a choice among Williams, Thybulle and Thiero, depending on whether Redick wants more shooting or more ball pressure next to Doncic.

Tuesday's loss was less informative. Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 15 off the bench and Thiero had seven points and four rebounds, but the Lakers sat most of the players who will matter in October. Dalton Knecht's slow start through two games has drawn attention, with the club facing a decision on his 2027-28 team option by the end of the month.

Fantasy fallout

Austin Reaves is not a draft-day concern yet. A tweaked ankle that keeps a player out of two preseason games, one of them on a back-to-back, is ordinary October caution. His price should not move unless he misses practice into next week. If a league-mate panics, he is a value in the middle rounds as the clear second option next to Doncic.

Walker Kessler is in the same category. A jammed finger is a nuisance, not a threat to his role as the Lakers' starting center. He remains a strong target for blocks and field-goal percentage, and the only practical effect is that Kevon Looney is getting a longer look as the backup.

Quentin Grimes is the name moving up. A starting job next to Doncic means open catch-and-shoot looks and real minutes, and the Lakers' defensive scheme rewards wings who can generate steals. In category leagues, a starter who contributes threes and steals is a useful late-round profile, and Grimes fits it. He belongs on draft boards in 12-team leagues as a late-round pick, especially for managers who punt assists or need low-usage efficiency.

Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle are the deep-league plays. Thybulle has always been a steals-and-blocks specialist whose value depends on minutes; a starting spot in a scheme built around ball pressure is the best case for him in years. Williams is the better shooter of the two and the more likely to hold value if he wins the fifth spot. Neither is a standard-league pick until Redick shows his hand closer to the opener.

The Verdexed angle

The Lakers' preseason has reinforced the shape of this roster: Doncic is the engine, Reaves and Kessler are the stable pieces, and the wing spots will go to whoever defends. That is a better fantasy environment than it looks. Teams that force turnovers at a high rate generate transition possessions, and transition possessions inflate the counting stats of the primary ball handler. Doncic, already a first-round pick, is the biggest beneficiary of a defense that creates easy offense.

The actionable move for drafters is to target Grimes a round or two earlier than his preseason ranking suggests and to treat any Reaves or Kessler discount as a buying opportunity. For bettors, preseason results like a 24-point loss with six regulars resting carry almost no signal, and Monday's blowout of Sacramento should be read the same way. Readers can follow the Verdexed board at /nba/predictions once regular-season lines are posted.

What's next

The Lakers return to Sacramento on Thursday for a rematch with the Kings, then play Golden State in Las Vegas on October 13 and close the preseason at home against Denver on October 16. Thursday is the first realistic chance to see Reaves and Kessler, and the October 13 game in Las Vegas is the likeliest dress rehearsal for the opening-night starting five.

Drafting before Thursday? Take Reaves and Kessler at full price, push Grimes up into the late rounds, and keep Thybulle and Williams on the watch list until one of them is clearly starting.