The Los Angeles Lakers are keeping Metta World Peace on the roster to start the season and he has made the team for Kobe Bryant over Jabari Brown. D'Angelo Russell may start along with Julius Randle, Bryant, Jordan Clarkson and Roy Hibbert in the season opener for LA, which is on Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers made final roster cuts this week and Peace made the roster after the team opted to waive Jabari Brown, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Peace was expected to make the roster and now Brown joins Jonathan Holmes, Robert Upshaw and Michael Frazier as players the Lakers waived heading into the season to get down to 15 players. Peace is considered to be a veteran role player on the roster and he reportedly has been mentoring Julius Randle leading into the season.
The Lakers now have some solid depth on the roster at small forward, as Ryan Kelly, Peace and Anthony Brown are options, while Brandon Bass, Julius Randle are in art power forward ahead of Larry Nance. The Lakers thought about keeping Robert Upshaw, but the team wants him to mature more and they are hoping to have him signed to their D-League affiliate. The team opted to keep Robert Sacre as the third center on the roster behind Roy Hibbert and Tarik Black.
The starting lineup has not officially been set yet, but according to the Los Angeles Times, Scott is preparing to start Jordan Clarkson, Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle and Roy Hibbert for the opening night game. The one question mark is D'Angelo Russell, who could start as a rookie at point guard, but Scott has not yet made a final decision. Marcelo Huertas made the team as an experienced depth option at the position, but he has not played in the NBA and is coming over from the Euroleague.
Bryant is reportedly ready to go after dealing with a leg injury in the preseason, according to ESPN Los Angeles. Bryant was able to participate in a full practice with the team and the Lakers are expecting Bryant to start the game. The Lakers schedule does not have a back-to-back for a little over a week and that could be the first time that Scott decides to rest Bryant for one of those games.
Even if Russell doesn't continue to start during the season, there is a good chance he will get the nod on opening night after being the number two overall pick. The team is facing off against the Wolves and number one pick Karl-Anthony Towns and depending on how Russell plays, Scott could keep him in that role through the first stretch of the season. Huertas dealt with an injury in the preseason, but he has looked good in his last two games and Scott said that he was confident that Huertas could handle starting in the NBA.
Check here for more on the Lakers roster, Bryant and the season opener.