Lakers roll with changes to kick off Luka Doncic era: A great first day

When the Lakers opened training camp with their first practice on Tuesday in El Segundo, there were a lot of new faces inside the building. And many familiar faces were nowhere to be seen.Gone were LeBron James, the league’s all-time leading scorer who spent eight seasons in Los Angeles before joining the 76ers.Same with Rui Hachimura, who spent 3 ½ seasons with the Lakers before joining the Clippers, as well as Marcus Smart, Deandre Ayton, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes, all of whom played important roles for the Lakers’ playoff series victory over the Rockets in the spring. Enter nine new players on the Lakers’ roster and a lot of new possibilities as the franchise fully establishes itself in the Luka Doncic era.Doncic lobs to marquee free-agent addition Walker Kessler? Check, with Kessler saying Doncic threw him around four lobs on Tuesday, quickly establishing a connection. “It was great,” Doncic said.“We had a lot of fun, a lot of teaching points, and everybody I think felt that it was like it was a great first day.”The beginning of a battle for two of the Lakers’ open starting spots? Check, with the team’s wings competing for minutes establishing the defensive physicality during the first practice.“We went after it from Day 1,” Kessler said.

“So it’s fantastic.” Outside of the new faces, which included shakeups on coach JJ Redick’s staff after longtime assistant coach Bob Beyer’s retirement, the first practice of camp didn’t look much different than it did during Redick’s first two years as coach. The installs and teaching for this portion of preseason will look the same, with Redick acknowledging his growth as a teacher, continuing to build off the small-group sessions players had in August and throughout September. The excitement for what this new group can be is palpable.“They are a very receptive group, eager group,” Redick said.“Even a couple of the guys that sat out a portion of the live play were constan...