I'm not really hopeful about Knecht, Vando, Bronny, - the data points don't look good (knecht end of the year/summer league, Vando playoffs again, or in Bronny's case he's probably still a year or two away) I think there is a very good chance LaRavia is one of those guys who will shine as he just needed a situation where he needed more minutes. His production and eye test are good for the minutes he's played. I'm going to go out on a limb and say there's a very good chance he moves ahead of Rui in the rotation as he's going to be more consistent defensive player Kleber - maybe his career trajectory doesn't look good at his age but some these have a renaissance 1-2 years before retirement. It would be really helpful Gabe - I hate watching him (i'm sure he's a nice guy off the court) but honestly just hate watching this dude. But if you're looking for a missing piece to a true title contention this guy is way more critical than I want him to be. A PG who can defend other quick guys, score at times, and take the ball pressure load off AR is something the Lakers really need. Sigh
I'm a bit more optimistic about Vando, myself. First time healthy in like 2 years, I remember him wreaking havoc on other players defensively in the past and he became one of my favorites. If you restrict his playing time to 15 mpg or so he can be brought in to do some high energy defense and boards. I think Knecht is glued to the bench with the arrival of LaRavia and I'm ok with that. Bronny has shown some growth and I could see him getting a little more of a shot this year, maybe taking a few of Gabe's minutes in the regular season. I'm quietly optimistic about Kleiber just as you are. I think with good health this year he and Hayes can share that backup 5 position and Maxi could even be inserted as a 4 at times possibly. He can stretch the floor a bit. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the current roster and I'm looking forward to seeing how the new guys fit in (Ayton, Smart, LaRavia). I believe we've bolstered some of the weak spots we had last year with their additions (real starting center, POA guard defense and a shot making, defensive minded big wing to take the place of DFS). A healthy Vando and Kleiber are nice additions as well.
i'll echo the sentiment that the most interesting player heading into camp for me is gabe. as panko said--in theory, we could really use the best version of gabe. and jj seemed to like him, so i'm guessing he'll get his shot to prove he can be part of the rotation. if he can basically be a modern derek fisher for 20mpg, it really helps us.
