Luka Dončić will make preseason debut vs. Suns Tuesday

Luka Dončić has been recovering from his summer commitment playing for the Slovenian national team in EuroBasket.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić will make his preseason debut against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Dončić has been resting the entire preseason up until this point, as the Lakers’ focus has been for the 26-year-old superstar to recover from summer commitment playing for the Slovenian national team in EuroBasket.

Coach JJ Redick says the Lakers will look to get Dončić ready to go as the regular season nears.

“I would say there will most likely be a ramp-up from Game 1 to Game 2 in Luka’s minutes,” Redick said. “What that total number looks like, we’re still talking to Javy [Barrio, Dončić’s athletic trainer] and Luka about what kind of makes sense.”

Marcus Smart will also be making his preseason debut on Tuesday, Redick said.

“You want to put your five best players on the court as much as possible. You also want to have balance with every lineup,” Redick said. “When we do our substitution metrics: who is going to guard? Who is going to create? Are we going to have enough shooting? So you’re doing that with every lineup you put out there, including the starting lineup.”

With the regular season opener against the Golden State Warriors a week away, Redick says the starting lineup is a work in progress with LeBron James out least another 2-3 weeks with sciatica down his right side.

“We’re still working through that and obviously losing LeBron for the start of the year in some ways complicates things a little bit. So, we have a week to figure that out and I think it will reveal itself to us.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.