Thought Starter...
Good News, Bad News
The Lakers got some good injury news on Tuesday. Anthony Davis, poked in the eye during Sunday’s win over Toronto, is fine (or fine enough) and will play. Without goggles, because he just hates them, apparently. But he’ll play.
Meanwhile, the news wasn’t so good for Christian Wood. The team’s most offensively talented reserve big man has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation following (another) knee surgery, and will essentially be shut down for a month. Realistically, this means the earliest he might return to play would be mid- to late-December. It’s very possible if Wood returns it’s after the first of the year.
Needless to say, combined with news that Jarred Vanderbilt seemingly isn’t any closer to returning than he has been over the last few weeks, the Lakers aren’t getting any help anytime soon. And it raises all of the same questions about the team’s training and medical staff. Did they do anything wrong in regards to Wood? Nothing indicates that at this point. The body is complex, and recovery can be difficult, especially when the bar to clear is “can play NBA basketball.”
But at the same time, it’s easy to believe the Lakers have a recurring problem with their medical staff and keeping people on the court, if for no other reason than their own actions seem to confirm it with consistent turnover in those departments. At the least, they have a communication problem. While most teams now don’t like to give much information about injuries—and there are a lot of good reasons for that—the Lakers seem particularly challenged when it comes to communicating in ways that craft expectations, and then help keep them in check.
Frankly, a little more “we don’t know” would be good. Guys are hurt, recovery is slow. “We don’t know when a player will be back. He’s doing everything he can, but we have a to be careful.” Something like that.
However you slice it, the Lakers are what they are for the time being. It’s highly unlikely that any players not currently in uniform (or available on a 2-way) will suit up for the Lakers before mid-December at the earliest, when the trade market functionally opens up.
—BK
In This Episode...
1. “The man just doesn’t want to wear goggles, Andy. And we’re all now just gonna have to hold our breath and wait for the next time he gets poked in the face.”
2. “Rui was shooting 58.6% in October, 20% in November. And we’ve talked before about Rui and often DLO as the two X-Factor players for this team.”
3. “No news is not always good news, but sometimes news isn’t good news either.”
4. “The idea that, at least to me, DLO was a difficult fit with the starting lineup... He now has a role that not only makes perfect sense for him, he’s filling a need.”
