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EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 12: Head coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers speaks to the media during a press conference at UCLA Health Training Center on May 12, 2026 in El Segundo, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Maybe Ziaire Williams<\/a> should have relaxed some knowing that JJ Redick<\/a> wouldn\u2019t consider another White guy for the starting lineup. Instead, the 24-year-old, who signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> in July, has apparently gone above and beyond to prove himself to his new team.<\/p>\n Williams, 24, was signed to a one-year contract in July and is now among several Lakers who are competing for the starting power forward job. Williams is one player who has especially generated excitement among Lakers Nation, particularly after it was reported that the former lottery pick put on 30 pounds of muscle.\u00a0<\/p>\n In their 40-minute season-opening press conference Thursday, coach Redick and general manager Rob Pelinka maintained that three players are locks for the starting lineup \u2014 Luka Doncic<\/a>, Austin Reaves<\/a> and Walker Kessler<\/a> \u2014 and the final two spots will be determined after training camp and preseason play out. But Williams is already catching folks\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n Williams Has Impressed the Lakers<\/p>\n \n A 6\u20199\u201d forward, Williams is coming off the highest scoring average season of his career with the Brooklyn Nets. Now that he is eyeing a starting role for the biggest market in the NBA<\/a>, he has a unique opportunity to reshape the trajectory of his still-young career. And it sure seems he is prepared. According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, Williams has already made a strong impression<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Lakers signed Quentin Grimes<\/a> to a four-year, $60 million deal, certainly starting-level money,\u201d Woike wrote. \u201cZiaire Williams has been impressive in preseason workouts and could also be a starter option. Same for three-and-D wing Matisse Thybulle<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n As Woike notes, Williams will have plenty of competition for the starting power forward job. The Lakers seem to prefer someone with two-way upside, with defensive versatility being a priority, as well as the ability to play off the ball.<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 Upside is Truly High<\/p>\n Recently, Lakers insider Jovan Buha argued that Williams has the highest ceiling of all the players competing for a starting position. Given his age, the expectation that he\u2019ll continue to improve and his physical profile, there are multiple reasons to believe Williams can earn the starting nod from coach Redick.<\/p>\n \u201cHe played all five positions at least (at) one point throughout the course of the year,\u201d Nets reporter Conner Long told Buha recently. \u201cThat shows me at the very least the coaching staff had some degree of trust in him to hold his own defensively against bigger guys. We\u2019ll see what L.A. does and how they manage that and if they want to give him some run against 4s or 5s, but I think he has the tools to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the Lakers wouldn\u2019t mind productive three-level scoring from Williams, they much rather him achieve high efficiency from the 3-point line while playing elite defense.<\/p>\n \u201cZ is a guy that \u2014 he has no problem picking up 94 feet, he has no problem taking on the tough assignments,\u201d Nets reporter CJ Holmes said of Williams\u2019 defense. \u201cDefensively, really, is where you see his athleticism come up. He\u2019s stalking those passing lanes. Like you said, he\u2019s getting those deflections.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 size potentially gives the Lakers an on-ball defender who can truly bother the opposing team\u2019s top offensive threat. His ability to slide up and down the lineup may, after all, give him the upper hand.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 12: Head coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers speaks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-906346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2268382698.jpg\")
GettySAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA \u2013 MARCH 25: Ziaire Williams #1 of the Brooklyn Nets<\/a> gestures to teammates as he controls the ball against the Golden State Warriors<\/a> during the first half at Chase Center on March 25, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kelley L Cox\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n