At some point, Luka Doncic is expected to play in the preseason, Lakers coach JJ Redick said before his team's preseason opener Friday against the Phoenix Suns at Acrisure Arena.

But will LeBron James play in one of the Lakers’ six preseason games?

“Again, I have… that’s out of my control,” Redick said, laughing.

Redick and the Lakers are fully aware that this is Year 23 for James and they want to be smart with how they deploy him.

“He knows his body, and so we’ll work with him,” Redick said before a 103-81 loss to the Suns. “We’ll work with Mike [Mancias, James’ personal trainer) on making sure he gets [to] a point of comfort where he can sort of be a full participant. But he’s been on the court every day. He’s been in the weight room continuing to get his body ready."

As for Doncic, he won’t play Sunday against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco. The Lakers said the decision to sit Doncic for the first two games stemmed in part from his participation in EuroBasket 2025 with Slovenia. Doncic played in his last game in the tournament about a month ago.

"As a coach, you want all those guys out on the court. That's just the reality,” Redick said. "Our expectation, Luka will play in the preseason. We're gonna use next week to continue to just get him in a good spot, with his body and his energy and all that stuff.

“He was great the first two days at camp. It was a lot. I think it made sense, given his workload this summer, to just kind of pull back. And he's in a great place physically and mentally."

As Doncic watched from the Lakers’ bench, he watched Austin Reaves finish with 20 points on six-for-11 shooting and seven for seven on free throws. Reaves showed bursts of speed to go along with his variety of moves.

“It felt good,” Reaves said. “We just enjoy playing basketball. [Lakers assistant coach] Greg [St. Jean] told me twice already that I looked quick and those might be the only two times I’ve ever been told that. So, it feels good. But I’m just happy to be out there playing basketball again with these guys.”

The lack of offense from Deandre Ayton was not an issue for the big center. He was more happy with his defense.

Ayton, who signed a two-year, $ 16.6-million deal with the Lakers after getting a buyout from the Portland Trail Blazers scored just one point. But he had two blocked shots.

“Yeah, I wanted to show the team I'm more committed on the defensive end more than the offense, in a way,” Ayton said. “I'm not really here for numbers. I'm just here for whatever the Lakers really want me to do. And the main objective is really protecting that rim and closing out our possessions."

Injury updates

Marcus Smart (Achilles tendinopathy), Maxi Kleber (quad), rookie Adou Thiero (knee) and Gabe Vincent didn't play against the Suns.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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