Lakers need Austin Reaves to carry the load with Doncic out

The Los Angeles Lakers depth chart has a big hole in it for Wednesday's trip to Milwaukee. Luka Doncic's stats read 40.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists a night across 9 games, and he is listed Out. Quentin Grimes is Day-to-Day. The Los Angeles Lakers come in 8-2 over their last 10 games at the time of writing.

The expected five for the Bucks game on Wednesday 11 November 2026 is Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler, Matisse Thybulle, Jake LaRavia and Grimes. Reaves is the only one of them above 15 points a game, and three of the five average 8.0 or fewer.

Every figure here covers the games played so far this season, between 6 and 11 for the players named, so treat the small samples with care.

Doncic leads the team in points and assists and sits second in rebounds, at 35.9 minutes a game. He shoots 49.8% from the field and 41.9% from three. Nobody else on the roster is close to his scoring: the next best is Reaves at 25.3, a gap of 14.8 points a night.

The Lakers' expected five for Milwaukee is built to allow for everyone on the injury report, so it assumes Doncic is out and lets Grimes start while he is still listed Day-to-Day. The Los Angeles Lakers depth chart takes that five from recent starts, minus anyone ruled out, and the full list of absences sits on the Lakers injury page.

The Lakers have still won eight of their last ten, so the scoring does not all vanish at once, but the numbers below show how much more has to come from fewer people.

Reaves is the engine. He plays more minutes than anyone on the roster, 36.2 a night across 11 games, and averages 25.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists on 50.8% shooting. Take Doncic away and he is the only starter above 15 points.

Kessler is the second option on paper. The center averages 14.4 points and 10.9 rebounds, and his 69.4% from the field is the best of any Laker who has played regular minutes. After Reaves and Kessler, the starting five drops to 8.0, 7.1 and 6.3 points a game.

Confirmed lineups come about 30 minutes before tip-off, so this is the expected five, not the final word. The expected Lakers starting lineup updates as the news does.

Here is the odd part. Two of the Lakers' bench players outscore three of the starters. Ziaire Williams averages 11.1 points and Collin Sexton 9.5, both ahead of Grimes (8.0), Thybulle (7.1) and LaRavia (6.3).

Sandro Mamukelashvili sits sixth at 8.6, also ahead of Grimes, Thybulle and LaRavia. So of the nine Lakers in the table below, six average more than Grimes (Doncic, Reaves, Kessler, Williams, Sexton and Mamukelashvili), and four of them (Doncic, Reaves, Kessler and Williams) average more than 11.

The starters are not there for their scoring. Thybulle averages 2.0 steals and 0.8 blocks, Grimes has 2.5 assists, and LaRavia chips in 3.6 rebounds. The scoring from the second unit is a reminder of how much of the offense lives outside the expected five.

The full ranking is on the Lakers points leaders page, where the Lakers' 17 players who have appeared are listed.

The first four off the bench are Williams (19.6 minutes), Sandro Mamukelashvili (17.9), Sexton (13.7) and Jarred Vanderbilt (12.8). The rotation list ranks every available player by minutes, so the bench reads straight down it from sixth man. The full bench order and minutes sit on the depth chart.

Williams is the standout. He shoots 55.4% from the field and 45.9% from three in 8 games, and his 11.1 points lead every Laker outside the top three. Sexton scores 9.5 points but shoots 41.3% overall and 24.2% from three, so his output comes with less efficiency.

Mamukelashvili offers 8.6 points and 4.3 rebounds, the third-best rebounding average on the team behind Kessler and Doncic. Vanderbilt is the specialist: 4.2 rebounds a game in 6 games, with only 1.3 points.

Jake LaRavia has the best three-point mark on the roster at 57.1%, but that comes from 10 games and the page gives no attempt counts, so there is no way to say how often he shoots them. Williams follows at 45.9%, then Doncic at 41.9% and Reaves at 41.3%.

Thybulle sits at 39.1%. Mamukelashvili is at 31.4%, while Grimes and Sexton are both at 24.2%. Kessler is at 0.0%, which fits his role as a rim-running center who scores on a 69.4% field goal rate.

With Doncic out, the Lakers' expected five has two clear threats from deep in LaRavia and Reaves, plus Thybulle at 39.1%. Kessler, at 0.0%, and Grimes, at 24.2%, are the two lowest from three in the five.

The Lakers list two players on the injury report: Doncic (Out) and Grimes (Day-to-Day). Statuses follow the official NBA injury report and update through the day, so check the Lakers rotation and injury list close to tip-off. The league-wide picture is on the NBA injuries page.

The expected five includes Quentin Grimes because it allows for everyone on the report, so it does not assume he sits. Confirmed lineups come about 30 minutes before tip-off. If he is ruled out, the depth chart is where the new five will show up first.

For the game itself, the Bucks v Lakers preview covers Wednesday's matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, and the NBA starting lineups hub carries the confirmed fives across the league. The Lakers' full roster and schedule are one click away.

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