LOS ANGELES – During the Los Angeles Lakers’ 107-96 win against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, they inched closer to getting back to full strength. The quartet of Luka Doncic, Jaxson Hayes, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent all made their return after missing the team’s loss to the Denver Nuggets last Friday. That leaves only LeBron James and Rui Hachimura still sidelined. While both players are inching closer to a return, Lakers head coach JJ Redick was honest about the challenges the team faces in integrating them back into the lineup.
Prior to the Lakers’ game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, JJ Redick was realistic about trying to bring LeBron James and Rui Hachimura back amid a compressed schedule to end the month.
“I’d have to look at the next three weeks, but very unlikely there’s a practice. I think there’s a practice in April. That’s the reality of playing every other day. Even if we do something on the court, there’s not going to be live contact in between games. So they’re just gonna have to ease their way back in,” Redick said.
“Some of us have had to do that. I had to do it a few times. It’s ideal to have a practice but I don’t think that’s realistic right now,” Redick continued. “Like we’ve done all year, we’ll work with Leroy [Sims] and our medical team. . .and make sure those guys are covered and safe.”
To end the month of March, the Lakers have nine more games including two sets of back-to-backs, with no more than a day in between the others. The next time they have any kind of extended rest is in between their Mar. 31 game against the Houston Rockets and their Apr. 3 game against the Golden State Warriors.
Lakers depth tested amid injuries
Aside from getting back two starters, two incredibly important starters at that, a big reason why the Lakers are eager to get LeBron James and Rui Hachimura back is to preserve eligibility for their two-way contract players.
Because of some of the injuries the Lakers have faced, Christian Koloko, Trey Jemison III and Jordan Goodwin have been thrown into the rotation. All three have shined at various points in the season, including recently, but they are running out of eligible games. Goodwin, who has moved into the starting lineup, has only seven games remaining, as per Daniel Starkand of Lakers Nation.
Before the Lakers’ game against the Spurs, JJ Redick spoke about the difficulty navigating two-way contracts amid injuries when those players are needed.
“It’s very complicated because he’s [Jordan Goodwin] really earned the trust of the coaching staff. But this is, unfortunately, the nature of the two-way contracts and having a full roster,” Redick said. “It’s something similar to Trey [Jemison]. We’re just going to manage. With guys being out, we can’t really afford to have them out of the rotation right now. We’ll see as we get healthy.”
The Lakers currently have a full 15-man roster. They had cleared up a roster spot when they waived Christian Wood, but then used that open slot to sign Alex Len. None of the two-way contract players will be playoff eligible unless converted to a standard contract.
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