The Los Angeles Lakers have looked much better since the NBA Trade Deadline. Rob Pelinka made multiple moves to upgrade the roster and thus far, they have certainly paid off. The Lakers have gone 4-2 since making deals to acquire D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Mo Bamba.
Unfortunately for Los Angeles, staying healthy remains a major issue. Russell suffered an ankle injury that is going to keep him sidelined and now LeBron James is also dealing with an injury to his foot.
James sat out three games following the night that he broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record with a sore foot. He suited up for the final game ahead of the All-Star Break and the first two after, which were all Lakers wins. But, he missed Tuesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies and is set to miss multiple more.
James is expected to miss at least two weeks because of his injured right foot. At that point, he will be reassessed to see how much progress has been made. However, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, James’ return to the court is expected to extend beyond that two-week point.
“He’s going through the diagnostic process, the medical evaluation, it’s ongoing,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said before Tuesday’s loss against the Grizzlies. “So we’ll wait and see what our people come back with.”
NBA NEWS: LeBron James & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
This is brutal timing for the Lakers who are fighting just for a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament. They are currently one game behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the last spot in the tournament and only three games behind the LA Clippers for the last playoff spot outside of it.
“I don’t want to speculate or jump to conclusions about anything; we’ll let our medical people do their due diligence and go through the process with that,” Ham said. “But I’ll tell you this: As an organization, we’re going to make sure we kick the tires on everything and look at everything that needs to be looked at, because never in a hundred, million years would we put a guy out there that has a risk of further damaging whatever is going on.
“And that’s not just with Bron. That’s any of our players. So, we’re going to make sure, whatever decision is made, it’s going to be the best for his health first and foremost.”
NBA NEWS: LeBron James & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Without James in the lineup, the Lakers are going to be hard-pressed to make a move up the standings. They will need Anthony Davis to return to and consistently play at the MVP level he was earlier in the season before suffering an injury of his own.
The depth that was added ahead of the deadline will be relied upon even more in the coming weeks. Pelinka made those moves to help take some of the pressure off of James and now it is time for those players to shine.
Want the latest in NBA analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click Here.
