Normally, when Anthony Davis and LeBron James don't play in a preseason game, it's easy to shrug your shoulders and basically ignore anything that happens over 48 minutes of ball. When those guys are missing, plus Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt, the temptation is to completely discount the game.

But for the Lakers, who are surely expecting James and Davis to miss a relevant chunk of games (some of which might come at the same time) it's actually really important to get a feel for how competitive they can be while those guys are on the sidelines. The hope was with improved depth and more firepower, the Lakers would be better suited to withstand those non-star games than they were last year. And if Wednesday's win over the Kings in Anaheim was any indication, the plan seems to have worked.

D'Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince and Rui Hachimura all cracked double figures in the starting lineup (not playing starters minutes), and were joined by Christian Wood (13 points in his most efficient outing of the preseason) off the bench. What the Lakers showed was that they have enough skill and firepower to hang and be a competitive team even with the All-Stars in street clothes. That could make a big difference in a tight Western Conference.

Russell continues to play really, really well, and has an interesting opportunity in front of him this year to reset the conversation around his value.

Finally, there are more interesting aspects of the NBA's annual GM survey we didn't get to earlier in the week. For starters, the Lakers were picked to finish third in the conference, and also received a tremendous amount of praise for their offseason. Basically, they got the best grades of any team not directly or indirectly involved in the Damian Lillard sweepstakes.

Plus, there's one category the Lakers should have gotten votes that could make a big difference in the standings this year.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers played a good game without their stars, which is a good sign for the season.

SEGMENT 2: D'Angelo Russell continues to play well.

SEGMENT 3: More NBA GM Survey results...

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