The injury to LeBron James has been a major setback for the Los Angeles Lakers as the 2025-26 NBA season quickly approaches. Not only for the fact that the Lakers will be without one of the best players in the history of the sport, but also because it leaves head coach JJ Redick without a clear vision of what the team looks like together on the court.

According to insiders, James expects to miss about three to four weeks. He will be out for the Lakers’ season opener, and potentially longer, as he recovers from sciatica, which reportedly first became an issue months ago. While he expects to join the starting lineup when healthy, the team is now asked the question of, “Who will start in LeBron James’ place?”

Responding to that question in an article for The Athletic, Lakers’ insider Dan Woike wrote that he believes Jarred Vanderbilt is the man for the job.

“I think the LeBron injury at the start of the year is a good chance for the Lakers to slot Jarred Vanderbilt into the first five and solve some of their point-of-attack defensive needs with a player who, when healthy, has already started for this team,” Woike wrote. 

He also mentioned Jake LaRavia as a potential candidate. Redick has multiple forwards to choose from when opening night comes around.

Filling Out The Lakers’ Lineup

Vanderbilt has seen more success on the defensive end of the floor, likely leaving a hole in the team’s offense.

However, if that is the case, Luka Doncic welcomes the opportunity to have a bigger role, though even if he doesn’t believe that will be the case with James out.

“I don’t view it that way,” Doncic said when asked if he’ll need to do more after James’ injury. “I just want to play basketball. If I do less, if I do more, whatever it takes for me to get a win.”

Vanderbilt has been with the Lakers for two and a half years now, and though injured for much of that time, has more experience playing with Doncic and Austin Reaves compared to some of the other candidates.

“One of the knocks on him is that he’s not really elite at any one thing, but as a contributor to winning, being capable (and willing) to impact the game in a bunch of undefined ways can be a real strength,” Woike wrote on LaRavia.

Los Angeles has a couple of other options at forward to choose from, but according to Woike, Dalton Knecht won’t be one of them, even if his minutes increase with James sidelined.

“With James out, the pathway to minutes for him is much clearer, and he should get a nice runway at the start of the year to make an impact if he can do some of the other parts of the game that don’t involve scoring,” he added on Knecht.

Woike Says A Trade Is Unlikely

The question of who will start for the Lakers remains to be answered, but Redick will likely give updates and make a decision over the next few days.While that could be answered soon, many are still asking the question of whether the Lakers will make a trade in the near future.

Woike responded to that as well, writing that James’ injury is playing a part in why he believes Los Angeles will stay quiet for the time being. Due to the recent injuries and health concerns of not just James but also Reaves, Marcus Smart, Adou Thiero, and others, Redick hasn’t seen what this team looks like when fully healthy.

“I don’t think there’s an obvious move to be made right now for a bunch of reasons, most of them stemming from the total lack of information about the strengths and weaknesses of the roster,” Woike wrote. “We won’t have that information for quite some time. I think that’s the root of some of the frustration/impatience from the fan base and, well, maybe the media too.”

His perspective that the Lakers will wait and see on what moves they’ll make based on what the team needs comes just days after another Lakers insider, Jovan Buha, reported that he thinks the team is closely eyeing the trade market.

For now, the Lakers are set with their current roster, filling in the gaps while they wait for James’ return. If a star becomes available, it is fair to say general manager Rob Pelinka will take a shot, but that remains unlikely until the full roster is on the court together.