Currently, the Lakers have too many problems to solve before they actually plan to climb up to the top six. Throughout the season, the squad was facing trouble with balance in the roster. At first, the plan of the front office of the Lakers was to try out the three big superstars – LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook. This plan did not work out with Westbrook, as he started to seem more like a burden than anything else. Westbrook was only in name but made no big contribution to his game. Hence it was time to let him go.
Injuries Badly Hampering The Current Season
Apparently, trading Westbrook took a lot of time until, at the very end of the trade deadline, a three-team contract kind of saved them. The Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves came to their rescue. There were a lot of gaps at different positions to be filled in the roster. But with the three-team deal, the Lakers managed to fill those gaps. Quality players came in, like Malik Beasley, D’Angelo Russell, and so on. Before the three-team contract, the Lakers had bought the talented Japanese Rui Hachimura.
After the trade deadline was over, the Lakers were looking like a pretty good competitive side until new problems in the form of injuries kept increasing in the camp. The first and most difficult-to-handle injury concern happened to the leader of the group, LeBron James. The all-time leading scorer will stay out for another couple of weeks due to a foot injury.
New entry D’Angelo Russell is also unavailable for the fourth game in a row. The second-in-command of the Lakers squad after LeBron James is Anthony Davis. But he was also unavailable for a long time. He is fitter than before. But Darvin Ham has clearly stated his intention of not putting too much pressure on AD’s feet. Anthony Davis won’t play the second game of a back-to-back.
Dennis Schroder, Another Addition To Lakers’ Injury List
With so much trouble, the last thing the Lakers want is another player down with yet another injury. The point guard who was replacing D’Angelo in the line-up, Dennis Schroder, also suffered a blow to his left ankle in the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The ironic part of the situation is the reserve, who was replacing a player suffering from a sprained right ankle, has also sprained his left ankle. And now, it looks like he will miss the game against the Timberwolves.
Coach Darvin Ham is losing players in the roster to get a line-up ready for the Timberwolves game and the following matches. However, Ham knows very well that they have a good chance of making the playoffs. With another nineteen games to go, the Lakers must keep their hopes alive until King James returns. LeBron James has said before that he is currently focusing on taking the team to the postseason. It is because he cannot miss back-to-back postseasons. That is not in his DNA.