Before the Lakers lost 108-122 to the Trail Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back, it was confirmed that they are currently heavily depleted and playing without stars earning over $130 million from their $195 million payroll. Scheduled to be without their star players like LeBron James and Luka Doncic at least for the next week, the Lakers’ head coach, JJ Redick, spoke to the media about any injury updates from the long list of bench players.
Following the defeat, Redick confirmed that he is “hopeful” about having Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes available for the next road trip. “We’ll see,” said Redick in conclusion. The Lakers are scheduled to face the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Wednesday night and the Grizzlies in Memphis on Friday night.
“It’s hard to run offense without ball handlers,” said the Lakers head coach in an honest review of the team’s performance without most of their depth being available. Earlier, Redick was also excited that a player like Gabe Vincent could be the secondary ball handler alongside Austin Reaves to run the offense without Luka Doncic or LeBron James. However, the veteran point guard has also been sidelined for two to four weeks after the MRI results were released during the Trail Blazers game.
Vincent rolled his ankle, was seen in a walking boot after last night’s game, and is now expected to be out for nearly a month, which adds more pressure on Austin Reaves’ shoulders. The 27-year-old guard Reaves has started the season strongly for the Lakers; he dropped 41 points in the loss tonight.
He has averaged 35.8 points, 8.5 assists, and 6.8 rebounds in his first four games of this season, while shooting 57.3% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc. With his 143 points through four games, he tied Elgin Baylor (1962-63) for the third most points through the first four games of a season in Lakers history.
LeBron James is still anticipated to be out until mid-November, and meanwhile, Luka Doncic will be reevaluated after the Grizzlies game on Friday. Some other key players missing from the rotation are Maxi Kleber and their rookie, Adou Thiero.
With a heavily depleted roster, the Lakers fans are bound to worry about their team’s short-term future. However, since they have 78 games still left in the season, I urge them not to get too worried at this point. If anything, they should be happy that Reaves is using this time to build the confidence to become a lethal third option for the Lakers once James and Doncic return.
