Lakers to be without 4 starters against Nuggets

The Los Angeles Lakers will be without four starters against the Denver Nuggets, including NBA superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic. 

Here are the only players the Lakers will have available tonight (3/14) versus the Nuggets. 

Available Lakers players vs. Denver:
Austin Reaves
Jarred Vanderbilt
Dalton Knecht
Jordan Goodwin (two-way)
Christian Koloko (two-way)
Shake Milton
Markieff Morris
Alex Len
Bronny James
Cam Reddish

Trey Jemison (two-way) is questionable. DFS and Gabe Vincent are doubtful.

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 14, 2025

LeBron, Doncic, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes won’t play against the Nuggets. 

All signs point toward Los Angeles getting blown out by Denver. 

LeBron is averaging 25.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.5 assists this season for the Lakers while shooting 51.7% from the field, 38.4% from beyond the arc and 77.0% from the free-throw line. He’s the oldest player in the NBA. 

Los Angeles acquired Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in February. Doncic is averaging 26.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists with the Lakers. 

One of the best players in the NBA, Doncic appeared in 422 games with the Mavericks. He averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists and made five All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Nico Harrison no longer wanted the Mavericks to orbit around Doncic. 

Harrison would have tried to trade Doncic this summer if the Lakers deal hadn’t happened.

“Yet naturally now, with a bit of distance from the initial shock, you have begun to hear more of the whispers that the Mavericks had somehow concealed for months,” Stein wrote. “Whispers via league sources suggesting that Dallas’ decision-makers, most notably general manager Nico Harrison, no longer wanted Planet Mavericks to orbit around Dončić and had grown determined to trade him by this summer at the latest.”

Doncic was eligible to sign a five-year, $345 million extension with the Mavericks this summer. 

According to The Athletic, Dallas wasn’t going to offer Doncic the supermax extension.

The Lakers can offer Doncic a four-year, $229 million extension this summer, or, like other teams, a five-year, $296 million contract in the summer of 2026.