As Lakers forward Trevor Ariza continues to recover from an October 6 scope of his right ankle, he will remain unavailable for Los Angeles for the immediate future, per Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Goon notes that an Ariza reincorporation into lineups for L.A. would help the club use big man Anthony Davis at the center position more frequently.
Head coach Frank Vogel said that Ariza remains “a ways away” from suiting up for Los Angeles, Goon writes. Without an explicit timeline for Ariza’s 2021/22 season debut, the 6’8″ veteran will soon be re-assessed by team doctors when he officially has been out for eight weeks, writes Mike Trudell of Lakers.com.
“I don’t have a definite date or anything like that,” Ariza said. “It’s all on when the doctors clear or the way my body feels and responds to more loading, more work. That’s kind of the gauge on when I’ll be able to be out there safely.”
There’s more out of the soon-to-be-Crypto.com Arena:
- With the Lakers having sputtered to an 11-11 start, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated contends that blaming head coach Frank Vogel for the team’s problems is short-sighted. The team’s significant roster churn appears to be the prime culprit. The Lakers’ main errors this season, Mannix writes, appear to have been the front office’s trade for pricey former All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook and the decision to let guards Alex Caruso and Dennis Schröder depart in free agency.
- An MRI has revealed that Lakers combo guard Avery Bradley has suffered a UCL sprain in his right thumb, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com. As a result of the injury, Bradley will miss tonight’s contest against the Kings. The 30-year-old has started 16 games of the 21 games he has played for the Lakers this year, averaging 5.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG over 22.2 MPG.
- New Lakers starting point guard Russell Westbrook has put up typically impressive, albeit inefficient, counting stats during his first two months with his hometown club, but Malika Andrews, Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins of ESPN’s NBA Today (video link) wonder if L.A. might already be regretting its decision to go all-in for the aging vet.
Of course they have to be regretting the Westbrook trade, left them with absolutely no depth and two guys that make absolutely no sense to have in the same lineup in him and Bron.
No problem w Depth really
Defensive guard play has been the bulk of the problem
Mixing Caruso and Shroder, and omitting Harrell & Kuzma? Signing Shroder would rule out signing others, and he is only average! He has two pretty good, not great seasons, and what he can do he can only do playing a solo game, not good from a PG. And not really young anymore.
I agree the Sacto deal would do them better for the Lakers, and the Kings GM presumably agrees. Too bad, but the trade made did open a starting spot for Dinwiddie.
Not sure it was LJ turning the tide for Westbrooke… I suspect people assume without knowing for sure.
Schroeder was odd indeed should have been KCP, a really good fit w LBJ and at least provides adequate defense up top which is our main flaw today
Lakers have a history of splashy moves. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t. Granted the Westbrook one to most NBA followers, looked terrible on paper and chemistry-wise. From a budget perspective, all those pieces that left, would be massively useful to fix the roster had it been needed. This goes back to the thought that LeBron is pulling is strings and not Pelinka. Tristan Thompson all over again (wasted money, just to appease certain folks).
Don’t know what you talking about, as Russ is a huge asset to any team, he has been playing really good this year, much needed by the LAL as LBJ has been missing so many games, if they kept all that collection of useless players instead of Russ they would be out of the playoff picture for good right now, so give some respect to Russ, dude!
BTW his signing in the summer looked good & a right fit with the team, which has been proven so far!
I agree! Russ is playing great basketball. The pick n’ roll with AD is getting better everyday!
You are tripping if you think he looks good right now, tripping
He’s not the greatest shooter, but he compensates that with his all around play. Especially when he keeps the turnovers down. I’m a big fan of his, fun to watch.
Blame gm Lebron. Him and Davis had the meeting with westbrook and literally went to the front office when they were about to trade for heild and vetoed it.
Everyone says LeBron is the real GM.
The Lakers need a GM not a player agent.
Pelinka has to go, if this team is ever going to get better.
Pelinka already has won a ring, which most of GM’s in the league will never do, so I must say he is one of the top 5 in the game right now, at least!
Don’t be fooled by the LBJ haters, anyone that hates on LBJ is dumb & has no basketball knowledge, just ignorant about hoops!
I mean…if everyone says it…
“put up typically impressive, albeit inefficient, counting stats”
Either report or give your opinion. Trying to do both doesn’t make you look good.
Played their best game of the year last night
DHoward was amazing. It’s always between the ears w Dwight and if they can get him playing tough AND SMART instead of just schoolyard bully tough it helps them a ton
Bury DJ so deep on the bench he basically only has a free front row ticket to the game, he’s beyond cooked
**My mini conspiracy – LeBron has no legit Covid protocols, his abdomen is acting up and he needs the 10 days to rest and doesn’t want the inj talks lingering around the team and his day to day legacy