The Los Angeles Lakers' season commences on Tuesday, and while the excitement of the brand-new NBA season is at an all-time high, L.A. will be without three key players to start the season. Ahead of their game against the new-look Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers will be without Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood, and Christian Koloko.

During the preseason, the Lakers had a considerably greater amount of ball and player movement, especially away from the ball, in their set offense, and they also consistently looked to pitch the basketball upcourt in transition. Those are two things that didn't happen much under Ham.

The Lakers seemingly broke the game wide open with a 23-6 run to open the second frame. Los Angeles led by as much as 19 points, thanks mostly to interior scoring from Davis and starting small forward Rui Hachimura.

There is a dissonance, on some level, between internal and external expectations. And therein lies the fascinating nature of the Lakers’ season. Only one outcome is possible. The Lakers will either exceed expectations, or they won’t. They will either make a go-for-it trade, or they won’t. They will either make the playoffs, or they won’t.

The Lakers return essentially the same team as last season. Of their 13 top players in minutes played in 2023-24, 11 have returned, with only role players Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie having departed, and the only new player expected to crack the rotation being rookie Dalton Knecht.

Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said at his and Redick’s media day that the Lakers will re-evaluate the roster around the 30-game mark — roughly around the start of 2025 — to determine if it’s worth upgrading.