Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers have several interesting rotation battles heading into the season

Published Sep. 30, 2015 3:53 p.m. ET

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Despite their perceived lack of talent, the Los Angeles Lakers have a ton of positional battles to suss out during training camp.

There are only two locks in the starting lineup: Kobe Bryant and Roy Hibbert.

Hibbert, of course, will play center, while Bryant's position is yet to be determined. Bryant has naturally been a shooting guard throughout his career, but as he's aged and lost a step here or there, it makes sense to slide him over to small forward.

The benefit of that, too, is that it means Jordan Clarkson and D'Angelo Russell don't have to fight for point-guard minutes and can instead share the starting backcourt. Lou Williams and Nick Young present some interesting options, but both are better suited as gunners off the bench.

Power forward is a bit tricky, as Randle should be the starter, but Scott may choose to bring him around slowly, as he's technically a rookie coming off a major injury, and the Lakers have a serviceable replacement in Brandon Bass.

Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times outline the rotational battle at each position. Here is an excerpt on the shooting guard position:

"While Bryant's natural position is at the two, a Russell/Clarkson backcourt could slide Bryant to front court.

"If Bryant does start at the two, he may sit out on back-to-back nights, which would knock him out of 18 games.

"The team is hoping Clarkson will fit well as the team's off-guard, with Russell growing into his role as the team's starting point.

"Other options at shooting guard include Nick Young, Anthony Brown, Jabari Brown, Williams, Frazier and Russell.

"Jabari Brown could be a victim of roster crunch, heading into camp with a non-guaranteed $845,059 contract."

Read the rest of the piece here.

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