Making grand declarations about any NBA team after its first two preseason games usually isn’t the best exercise.

That’s especially the case for the Lakers, who were without multiple key players in their first two exhibitions: Friday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns and Sunday’s defeat to the Golden State Warriors.

Star players Luka Doncic and LeBron James didn’t suit up in either preseason games.

Neither did key free agent addition Marcus Smart, Maxi Kleber and rookie Adou Thiero. Austin Reaves sat out the game against the Warriors, while Gabe Vincent sat out against the Suns.

Despite 96 minutes of basketball featuring short-handed versions of the Lakers’ roster, a few lessons were already learned.

Here are three takeaways from the weekend:

PRE-INJURY VANDERBILT

One of the more signifi

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