“Laker coach Byron Scott applauds his players in the fourth quarter. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings 98-95 in Los Angeles, CA. December 9, 2014. (Photo by John McCoy Daily News)”
The Lakers appear likely to make lineup changes, regardless of whether they make a move leading into Thursdays’ trade deadline that ends at 12 p.m. PST.
With Byron Scott insistent he would evaluate his starting lineup every 15 to 20 games this season, the Lakers coach strongly suggested another shuffle will take place.
“I’ll probably make another lineup change just to get some other guys some time to just go out there and show what they can do as well,” Scott said. “So I do expect probably one more, at least, lineup change.”
Scott declined to specify what changes he will consider. But he added it seems unlikely he would make the switch when the Lakers (13-40) host the Brooklyn Nets (21-31) on Friday at Staples Center. Instead, Scott deemed it more likely he will field a new starting rotation with 25 games left in the 2014-15 season, coinciding for when the Lakers host the Oklahoma City on March 1 at Staples Center.
For the last 10 games, Scott has fielded a starting lineup featuring rookie Jordan Clarkson (point guard), five-year veteran Wayne Ellington (shooting guard), second-year player Ryan Kelly (small forward), rookie Tarik Black (power forward) and third-year player Robert Sacre (center). The Lakers have won only one of those games and the rotation features a combined 1.6 years of NBA experience.
But ever since Kobe Bryant suffered a season-ending injury to his right shoulder, Scott switched his starters and put more of an emphasis on developing young players. Another lineup switch to monitor could entail how Scott uses his reserves. Veteran guard Ronnie Price has missed the past eight games because of a coach’s decision, but Scott reported that he told Price he play after the All-Star break. Lakers guard Jeremy Lin has played a reserve role since then and sat in only one game beforehand because of a coach’s decision.
Scott believed the Lakers will handle any changes without complaint considering the team has plenty of potential free agents next offseason. Lin, Price, Carlos Boozer and Wesley Johnson will become unrestricted free agents, while the Lakers hold team options on Clarkson, Sacre, Black and Jordan Hill. Lakers forward Ed Davis plans to opt out of his $1.2 million player option in hopes of a longer and more lucrative deal here.
“Our guys have been playing hard every single night,” Scott said. “So I dpn’t see that changing to be honest with you. And to be honest with you I don’t think I’m going to let that change. I’m going to keep pushing these guys, and pressuring these guys to be the very best they can be. And how many games we win from this point on, that’s kind of irrelevant. We want to continue to go out there and just continue to be competitive every single night.”
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com