Anthony Davis told reporters he’s feeling better today, but the decision on whether he plays in Thursday’s Game 6 will be made by the Lakers‘ medical staff, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Davis was held out of Game 5 with a left groin strain, and L.A. wasn’t able to stay close without him, falling behind by 30 points at halftime.
Davis said the groin injury was a result of overcompensating for a hyperextended left knee that he suffered in Game 3. He is averaging 21.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in four games, but L.A. has been ineffective when he hasn’t been on the court.
Davis had been hoping to play in Game 5, but determined during a second warm-up session that he wasn’t able to go, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Davis said he went through 20 minutes of shooting and the injury still felt the same.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel replied, “We’ll see,” when asked about Davis’ chances of returning for Game 6, saying it will be a game-time decision (Twitter link from McMenamin). “He’s doing everything he can to get back out there,” Vogel said.
There’s more on the Lakers:
- LeBron James cautioned Davis against trying to return too soon, according to Chris Haynes of The Athletic. James had a similar injury during the 2018/19 season that kept him out for several weeks.
- Vogel also expects Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to be a game-time decision on Thursday night, Rankin adds (via Twitter). Caldwell-Pope returned in Game 5 after missing Game 4 with a sore left knee, but he played just 15 minutes in the lopsided loss. He said the knee tightened up in the second half and affected his ability to move.
- The Lakers appear determined to keep Andre Drummond beyond this season, McMenamin said this week on Zach Lowe’s podcast (hat tip to Brad Sullivan of Lakers Daily). Drummond was widely considered to be a rental when he signed with L.A. in late March after a buyout with the Cavaliers, but L.A. reportedly believes the 27-year-old center is worth a long-term investment. He’s rumored to be seeking a max deal in free agency this summer, so he would have to significantly scale back those demands for a deal with the Lakers to be realistic. Marc Gasol is the only center L.A. has under contract for next season, although Montrezl Harrell has a $9.72MM player option.
There… it got reported… Drummond wants a max deal. The gall.
Negotiation starting point
Drummond wants max
Lakers plan to give him Vet Min
compromise: he takes the maximum of the mid level
They know he’s not signing for the minimum.
The Lakers have to offer him the MLE of $6M.
But he will probably get a better offer from another team.
Lol.. a max for drummond? No one would trade for him.. what makes him think he’ll get more then whiteside did last summer?
Lakers are a nice organization
They want Drummond back
“Lakers are determined to keep Andre Drummond” El Oh El.
Cue WW’s daily post about LeBron and the jealousy of him and the Lakers. In 3,2,1…
Drummond’s not the right type of center for a Bron/AD Lakers…you’d think the front office would be smart enough to see this….then again, they didn’t see that Shröder wasn’t a good fit (unless it was to lead a 2nd unit off the bench) so who knows. Lakers need a center with the hands to catch LJ’s passes and guards that are consistent snipers …pretty simple really but difficult to find without money
Pretty simple really without tax room
Of course it is. Anyone will take the minimum to play with LeBron.
You seem like you’d be a great GM. Perhaps you should send your resume to the Lakers. I’m sure you’d be hired immediately.
How’s AD able to recover so quickly?
Lakers winning 2 straight. Lebrons goatness won’t be denied!
cardsfan12 “Street Clothes” won’t play again this season!!! Go Suns!!
This guy hit it on the head.
link to youtu.be
Lebron is a cancer.
“LeBron James cautioned Davis against trying to return too soon…”
From the look of the last game, if AD doesn’t return for the next game he’ll have plenty of time to rest…
My thought exactly. No way can the Lakers win game 6 without AD.
Drummonds best case scenario was to play out the year with the Cavs and do a sign in trade in late Summer. Nobody is going to use space to sign him to a big deal.
If no one would trade for him
Now why would they next year ?
Drummond also was benched and not playing
The Cavs could have done a sign and trade this summer for a reasonable amount far less than the $28M he was making before.
But the Lakers don’t have his bird rights so the only teams that can give him more than MLE-level money are the ones with cap space.
“AD- we’re not deep enough to win in this year. Say your injury is worse than it is and shut it down. That was it gives us an excuse for not winning”
AD will try to play in front of the home crowd, then they can take him out of after 5 minutes saying he tried his best to tough it out. Suns win by 20.
Totally called it. Nostradamus ain’t got nothing on me.
They’ve seen Drummond play for them and still think it makes sense? Incredible. Like I said before they signed him, and then ridiculously decided to use him over Gasol, they did this to themselves
I blame Pelinka