The preseason position battles in Boston, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Sacramento, and what they change
Mitchell Robinson and Jordan Walsh started Boston's last two games, Quentin Grimes held his Lakers spot, and New Orleans and Sacramento head into the season with jobs still moving.
By James · 4 min read
Jeremiah FearsMitchell RobinsonNeemias QuetaPhotos: NBAProThe preseason ended on October 16 with some of camp's open starting jobs settled and others still moving. This story covers four teams our earlier preseason stories did not, and for the roles already covered, from Kyshawn George to Jaime Jaquez Jr., see the preseason roles worth a late pick.
- Jeremiah Fears NOP95thvs 129th
- Mitchell Robinson BOS132ndvs 144th
- Neemias Queta BOS112thvs 118th
- Quentin Grimes LAL155thvs 143rd
- Jordan Walsh BOS241stvs 200+
- Payton Pritchard BOS76thvs 82nd
For each battle we give the starts as two outlets reported them and set the winner and the loser on our points board under ESPN's default scoring and our 9-cat board beside the analysts' consensus. Our projections do not read preseason games, but they read minutes from each player's last ten regular-season games, so a starting role that holds for two or three weeks will move his line on its own.
Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.
