Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LeBron James to Miss (at Least) 1-2 Weeks, Luka Dončić Questionable vs. Brooklyn

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Locked-on Lakers for Monday. Brian Kaminetsky, Andy Kaminatski, LeBron, James is expected to miss at least one to two weeks. And injuries are starting to pile up for the Lakers. We'll explain next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Lockdown Lakers.

Starting point is 00:00:30 First listen to every day, Monday through Friday, no matter how where you get your podcast, it's always free, never behind a page. wall and of course, Andy Lockdown Lakers on YouTube where many of people are watching right this very moment is where over 33,000 subscribers can all hang out and talk to each other, talk to us, and they, Andy, are currently wondering how the Lakers are going to respond now that we know that LeBron at least reportedly is expected to miss one to two weeks, at least. And so this news, Andy, is obviously not good, but it comes at a time when injuries are starting to pile up for the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:01:07 The report for tonight's game in Brooklyn is long. Luca Donchich is questionable. Doreen, Rui Hachamura is obviously still out. Doreen-Finney-Smith will miss tonight's game with an ankle injury. Jackson-Hase is still questionable. Yeah, Jackson-Hase is still questionable. So they're kind of running out of dudes, Andy. But at this point, both big picture with LeBron and big picture with the rest of the roster,

Starting point is 00:01:34 You got to think about the big picture. It's interesting. LeBron said after the game, and we recorded on the heels of the Celtics game before the media talk with LeBron. And I guess in and of itself, LeBron speaking afterwards is a good sign just because typically unless if players think it's, if players get injured, it's often they're out from talking post game anyway. But then if they typically if something is bad, then they usually really operate. out. One of the rare exceptions being when Kobe spoke right after tearing his Achilles. But for the most part, players will take any opportunity they can not to talk if it's a freebie by the team or by the league and then especially if it's on the heels of an injury. So LeBron talking

Starting point is 00:02:21 is hopefully something optimistic. He said he does not think this is in the same category of severity as when he hurt his groin in his first season with the Lakers and that Christmas game against the Warriors that cost him several weeks, he said, quote, no, it's not as bad as that. It's not as bad as that. Then knocked on wood by his locker. And then he said, I've been there before

Starting point is 00:02:46 and I know what type of injury we're dealing with. And what's interesting to me is on one hand, it's great, obviously, that in LeBron's eyes, and I guess so far what we're hearing, the injury is not as expected to be as severe. as before. But the flip side is LeBron's body is seven years older than that injury and with a lot more mileage than with that injury. And, you know, he knows his body certainly better than my intuitions, but it's just a reason why I think it makes very pragmatic sense to maintain grounded

Starting point is 00:03:21 expectations within the organization among the fans, be happy if it's a pleasant surprise. And for the time being, I am preparing for LeBron to be out at least two weeks, more than happy to be overshooting that by half a week or more. A couple days, whatever it is. I mean, look, I think there is a reason they put, you know, at least in, you know, however the information gets out and, you know, whoever is responsible for for leaking it, you know, there's a reason at least is in that parentheticals because you don't know for sure. and nobody is going to

Starting point is 00:04:02 is going to push LeBron to get back, especially now, look, I understand. It's pretty cool. The Lakers, Denver loses on Sunday. The Lakers are mathematically back in that two seed. And like, it's very, it's a great thing to be that the second seat in the West. Set yourself up for hosting a potential series against Denver. There's like, there's nothing to dislike about being in the number two.

Starting point is 00:04:27 but you can't push LeBron back over something like that. The only thing that I think truly matters is staying out of the play-in, staying somewhere in the top six. Two is better than three, three is better than four, four is better than five, five is better than six. The only thing that matters is don't be seven. And if the Lakers can do that, then they should be okay, I think, going to the playoffs,

Starting point is 00:05:00 because, you know, Luca Donchich, LeBron James are not going to be scared playing on anybody's home floor in a potential game seven. I do not worry about that in the slightest. So, I mean, honestly, every single game seven the Lakers ever play, they're going to have a fair amount of Laker fans there regardless. Probably even in a playoff. I mean, other than like Boston, you know, somewhere like that for game seven, And it is really difficult for the Lakers to not get a solid contingency.

Starting point is 00:05:31 At least somewhat. Yeah. Like a good group. Yeah. Do want to let people know that today's episode is brought to by Fanduel. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. But like if so, I look at it this way. You talked about like two weeks at the minimum.

Starting point is 00:05:49 If you're wrong, he comes back earlier. That's great. I basically say like it's probably the two weeks. I would add a third. Like reasonable expectations would be at a third. And, you know, for Lakers fans that are really concerned about this, you know, obviously the more this group plays together, the better. And we'll get into Luca playing tonight.

Starting point is 00:06:12 And, you know, Rui's not back. And the injury is starting to pile up. That is a factor in all of this. We're not really, you're not just looking at LeBron in a vacuum. You're looking at the whole thing right now. And, you know, injuries are starting to pile up. As long as he's back before the playoffs, it's fine. And when they went to the Western Conference finals a couple years ago,

Starting point is 00:06:33 LeBron missed a lot of March. So they've done this before. And LeBron has done this before. And if there's any player in the league, Andy, that does not need a three-week ramp up to get ready for the playoffs, it's LeBron. Well, he might need a three-week or a couple-week ramp up for the playoffs just to get his body completely back to where he wants it to be timing all that stuff.

Starting point is 00:06:58 What I am confident about, though. But I don't think, but he doesn't need it mentally. He doesn't, you know, like the man knows the, okay. I mean, he knows the, the deal. He's been there before many, many times. And assuming his body is right, then he's going to be fine. And that's basically what I'm getting at. Sure.

Starting point is 00:07:17 No argument there on the mental side. I'm just saying the physical piece of this. Right. Whatever time he needs to get ready is what time he needs to get ready is what time he needs get ready. Right. What I'm saying is I'm saying that with the assumption that when the playoffs come around, he's good to go. And if it's if it takes him, if he's got it, you know, whatever the time period you get to good to go is is, you know, that's what he needs. It doesn't need to be anything longer than that. I agree with that. I'm just saying the ramp up period,

Starting point is 00:07:44 depending on how long he's out, could theoretically bleed into the playoffs themselves, which is not ideal even for somebody like LeBron. You actually be getting yourself back into that physical space while you're playing game two of the opening round of the playoffs. Like that that's not ideal. I'm not saying it's a deal breaker. And if anybody can figure it out, it is LeBron. But that's a challenge even for someone like LeBron. But what I was going to say, though, is to me what I'm not worried about, though,

Starting point is 00:08:17 as much as you obviously want LeBron and Luca to get as many reps as possible together before the playoffs, that they've gelled so quickly. And it's been so seamless between the two of them. Like even the early period where Luca was clearly figuring out a lot of stuff, getting himself physically and mentally into the right space, the stuff between LeBron and Luca, that's never been a problem at all. largely because I think LeBron just figured out early on and JJ and everybody, the way to make this work is concede a lot of space to Luca.

Starting point is 00:08:57 Give Luca the ball and I get to run around and do all kinds of other stuff, make my life easier. Right. That piece of it is, because I've, in listening to other shows and just coverage of the situation in general. Other shows. I mean, I throw them token listens. But like I've seen that concern come up.

Starting point is 00:09:16 and I understand where it comes from, that's just not one of the things that I'm worried about. I think there are other things with LeBron and how the entire picture comes together that can be affected by LeBron's absence. I just, for what it's worth, I'm not particularly worried about Luca and LeBron not getting the reps because they've already looked so good together as it is.

Starting point is 00:09:41 Yeah, and two extremely seasoned playoff. competitors playoff stars who understand how to close and all that kind of stuff. There is actually, I think, though, in terms of the lineup, we'll get into some of these other injuries, Luca himself, part of this injury report heading into tonight's game. Obviously, you could see the bad back and the impact it was having on him during the Boston game. So we'll talk about that, but I think there is an opportunity here. In terms of getting guys on the same page, it's not between LeBron and Luca, but the Lakers do have an opportunity here with Luca and Austin Reeves,

Starting point is 00:10:20 and we'll get into that next. Baked on Lakers is brought to you by DoorDash NBA fans. Get ready because when they swoosh, you save thanks to DashPass every time a player drops 50 or more in a game. You score a huge deal the next day. It's really simple when any player scores 50 or more in a game during the 24, 25 regular season. Dashpass members get 50% off an order up to $10 off the next day from noon to midnight.

Starting point is 00:10:50 So after an epic 50 point performance, you can celebrate with some wings or pizza or burgers from your favorite spot delivered straight to your door. You can also get a little lunch on the go. With DashPass, you get your favorite meals with $0 delivery fees, also reduce service fees. And now, again, you save even more with exclusive offer. So sign up for DashPass and be ready to save. Again, 50 or more from any player in a game, DashPass members get 50% off in order the next day, up to 10%. bucks off. Use the promo code NBA 50 from noon to midnight. After that 50 game performance on eligible orders from participating merchants, you must have an active dash pass account. Terms apply,

Starting point is 00:11:32 visit DoorDash to learn more. Reminded to folks, sign up for the Lockdown Lakers newsletter. You go to LockdownDaily.com. Then you click on Lockdown, Lakers, and you get the show delivered to you every day. Obviously, you can also have that downloaded to your podcast app if you subscribe through iTunes, Apple Podcasts, or whatever it's called now, and Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. But the newsletter brings you more than that. It brings you analysis both from us and from across the network. Great way to keep up on what's going around around the NBA.

Starting point is 00:12:11 Again, LockdownDaily.com, click on Lockdown-Lakers. We certainly appreciate your doing that. So I agree with you. LeBron and Luca, I think have figured this out pretty quick. And I think you're right. LeBron has figured out give the ball to Luca. I still, you know, it's not like Bronn is never on the ball anymore. But for the, you know, when they're together,

Starting point is 00:12:30 Luca is the primary initiator of the offense. And LeBron, I think, is enjoying how he can put pressure on the, on the opposition in different ways. I disagree a little bit. I mean, I think the offense has not been so smooth. Like, you know, you want everybody on the floor. And there's a lot of improvement that can be made. Well, I didn't say the offense has been.

Starting point is 00:12:53 smooth. And I didn't say that you don't want guys on the floor together. I just said I'm not specifically worried about LeBron and Luca how they're working on each other. You know, those are, when one of those guys is missing, that impacts how everybody. Oh, there's plenty of other stuff to be concerned about. Just that one. Literally LeBron and Luca working together. Sure, I agree with you. But in terms of the context of how the offense operates, the play calling, the execution, all that stuff. You know, LeBron missing two to three weeks can have a significant impact on how much they can acclimate. But it does give an opportunity for Reeves to, I think, build a little bit of a rapport with Luca. Again, contextually not what it's going to be when LeBron gets back, which cuts into a little bit of the benefit.

Starting point is 00:13:47 But I think that's been the harder adjustment. LeBron and Luca, it seems that's gone on pretty easy. Luca and Reeves together, I think it's been a little trickier. And so at the very least, with LeBron out, this gives the two of them an opportunity to develop a little bit more chemistry that can hopefully carry further into when LeBron returns. Because say what you will about LeBron, the guy can figure out how to fit into any basketball situation. That has never been an issue with James. So I am looking forward to seeing Reeves and Luca kind of build something in this three-week stretch. Well, it didn't help that Austin missed a few games with a calf injury of his own.

Starting point is 00:14:32 And then the last couple games, Austin has looked to me like he's still getting himself back physically, he's getting back some of his timing. Like, I thought he looked better against Boston than he did against New York. New York, he honestly looked pretty terrible. But it's understandable with the time that he had missed. But either way, it would be good for those guys to build a little more synergy. The more they're in sync, the more it gives JJ different options, even when LeBron is back, in terms of just how you can go those minutes without LeBron on the floor.

Starting point is 00:15:12 The more that those two also play well together, the less pressure. there is on, I mean, I think that this stage of his career and in this age with the mileage or whatever, there is only so much LeBron can feel pressured to come back anyway. Like he does not have the luxury of rushing himself. Like, you know, we, first of all, you've seen in Dallas what happened with AD who clearly rushed himself back and that was a disaster. But LeBron at this stage of his career, he's got to be, he's got to be ready when he gets back. but it will be easier for everybody else too.

Starting point is 00:15:47 Like for the guys around Luca, assuming he plays, we'll talk about this, assuming he plays against the Nets, but certainly for the next couple weeks, nobody's expecting Luca to miss significant time because of this back injury. He may miss none. But the more Luca and LeBron, Luca and Reeves succeed together,

Starting point is 00:16:08 more synergy they create for each other and for the offense, it means the better the Lakers play, and the better the Lakers play, the less pressure everybody around Austin and Luca feel to try to do too much. And when everybody starts trying to do too much, that's when you often play worse. The situation with Luca is interesting. This is the game on the trip where you look at it. Lakers go from here Thursday night. They play Milwaukee.

Starting point is 00:16:40 And then Friday, it's Denver again. Brooklyn, Cam Thomas not going to play. They're not trying terribly hard to win games. They are managing to lose a lot of them. But, you know, if you're missing LeBron and Rui, Jackson Hayes is questionable. DFS is out. DFS is out.

Starting point is 00:17:06 Like, you know, you're starting to run out of guys. You know, you could lose this game. Like, there's no question. especially if Luca doesn't play. Same kind of deal. Like the Lakers, they have the value of this cushion that they've built is exactly for the situation that they are in right now.

Starting point is 00:17:29 It is not to the preservation of the seed, although that's really cool. It is to give themselves every ounce of space, that they can possibly get to make sure that the team is healthy going into the playoffs. That is what matters. You know, they don't need to play for specific matchups. They need to stay out of the seven seed and be as healthy as possible. And you cannot, even if it means losing the Brooklyn game, you know I am.

Starting point is 00:18:04 I'm usually like, go make sure you win these games like the winniest game on this on the schedule. of a tough trip or tough stretch, go make sure you win that one because you could lose the other ones anyway. I'm not saying that about this one. If Luca is questionable, like meaning like really like gets out of the floors, like it's kind of questionable as to whether or not I should be here.

Starting point is 00:18:25 There is no question. Sit down. Luca, for those who didn't realize it was dealing with this back issue, they're labeling it back soreness. That's what it's being officially designated by the Lakers. It was bothering him during his, warmups. Like this wasn't. Yeah, you can see. He looked like me when I got out of bed in the morning.

Starting point is 00:18:44 Right. Like this wasn't something that just happened over the course of the game. Like he tweaked it weird or something like that. This was something that he arrived in TD in Boston dealing with. So it sucks the idea of one of the games that was pretty much written in Penn, Brooklyn. Like this is one of the ones you know you not only can win, you should win, you're banking on it to be one of those wins that just, you know, creates, keeps that separation between you and Denver, stuff like that. But when you know that you are in all likelihood going to be without, at minimum,

Starting point is 00:19:22 LeBron and Rui for the next week to two weeks, hopefully just that, you can't. It's not going to play between now and Friday. That's for sure. Yeah. Oh, Rui is not even being re-evaluated for another week. Until next week. Right. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:19:37 You cannot chance the idea of. of being a couple weeks without LeBron, Rui, and Luca. And if that means you go into Brooklyn, and it's basically Austin Reeves and Vando and Dalton Connect, putting up 18 shots and Shake Milton getting 25 minutes and, you know, Trey Jemison just knocking dudes around. Like, this is the thing you have to do. Like this is similar to when in Philadelphia, in January,

Starting point is 00:20:09 J.J. Reddick played Brony early minutes, and there were a lot of people coming up with conspiracy theories, like LeBron and Clutch were pressuring JJ to do this. And we had actually told people before that game, be prepared for Brony to play because Gabe was hurt. At the time, Jalen Hood, Jafino was on the team. He was hurt. Quincy Olaveri was hurt. Jake Milton had been really struggling. Cam Reddish was in the dog. Like everybody else was.

Starting point is 00:20:39 was either hurt or struggling badly. We said, don't be surprised at brawny plays. Why? Because you've got to throw dudes out there in times of emergency. And for this situation, for the sake of the bigger picture, you may have to play some guys more extended minutes than you're comfortable with than the results would be positive. You may just have to get through it.

Starting point is 00:21:05 And if it means losing a game to Brooklyn, which really sucks, You may have to do it anyway. Yeah, just to kind of close up this portion of the conversation, I mentioned the Reeves Luca pairing was looking it up. They're a plus 2.3 in terms of differential. When those two guys are on the floor together, obviously there is some overlap here with LeBron. And it's a relatively small sample size, smaller than normal,

Starting point is 00:21:32 than even the LeBron Luca sample because of the, the games that Reeves missed. LeBron and Luca together almost twice as good as that at close to five as a point differential, just kind of that shorthand to give you an idea of how, you know, the combinations are working together. That said, it is, there are some comforting numbers. If it's just got to be whether it starts Thursday or starts tomorrow, like, all right, Luca's in charge.

Starting point is 00:22:07 there are some comforting numbers and I actually think one more thing that could play really well for the Lakers when LeBron comes back. We'll get to it next. Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Fandul. March Madness is here and Fandul is giving you a chance

Starting point is 00:22:28 to get in on the action like never before. Right now new customers can get $200 bucks in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. That's $200 in extra bucks to use on everything from buzzer beaders to Cinderella stories are just rooting on your alma matter, the school that your family has been attending and rooting for for generation after generation,

Starting point is 00:22:49 and hopefully the team you see cutting down the nets. You can stay in the action with tournament games happening almost every day. There's always something excited to bet on. Plus, it's really fast and easy. The Fandul app is simple to use, and when you win, you get paid instantly. There's no waiting around. So visit Fandul.com.

Starting point is 00:23:06 Get in on the college hoops action all tournament long. So the Lakers have been really good when Luca plays. I think, you know, the eye test, Andy says that good things have been generally happening when Luke is on the floor. And the numbers tend to back that up. Only 11 games, obviously, not a season's worth of minutes. But that said, his net rating with Lakers is hovering right around 10. So Lakers being 10 points better in terms of offensive versus defensive rate, offensive and defensive rating when Luca plays.

Starting point is 00:23:52 What I think is helpful here is that this will call it, you know, is it a six game absence, an eight game absence, a 10 game? I don't know. Whatever the number turns out. If LeBron missed two weeks, I'm just letting you know, If he ended up missing two weeks on the nose, he would miss eight games. Right. And so I was saying before, like, I think it's two, probably, if he misses two full weeks,

Starting point is 00:24:23 you add a third just to be safe or half of a third. So, I mean, you're looking at anywhere between six games. If it's, hey, it turns out it's not such a big deal, bounces back real fast, be the first 40-year-old in, you know, world history to bounce back quickly from a groin injury. But he does a lot of amazing things. If it's two weeks, like you say, it's eight games. If it's a little bit more than that, you're looking at like ten-ish. That's a lot of time for Luca to really put, you know,

Starting point is 00:24:54 you figure Rui comes back somewhere halfway in there, hopefully. That's a lot of time for Luca to really put his stamp and really get comfortable being the front man of this team. And like, you know, the Lakers have said when they traded for him, this becomes Luca Donch's team. The coaching staff has said things are going to run through him and all that stuff. And I don't think Lucas really since that was like maybe that first game or two when he was just getting his sea legs back. I don't really think he's been terribly deferential to LeBron.

Starting point is 00:25:28 No. But no. Still LeBron James that you're playing with. And I think having a stretch of time where LeBron isn't there. and your team is very dependent on you, will really fully settle him into this space of being the front man on this team. And I don't worry about LeBron coming in

Starting point is 00:25:51 and having to have a readjustment to that thing. Luke is still in that adjustment period as a human to post-trade getting used to L.A. He doesn't have a house. He doesn't like none of this. It's very unsettled. So this, I think, could help that. I think this can get him settled in.

Starting point is 00:26:13 The Lakers are going to lose some games that they might have otherwise won, but broadly, I think the impact on Luca, assuming the Lakers allow him to get healthy or if he even needs to get healthy, I think this could be kind of a positive for him. And, you know, again, LeBron, as long as his body is right, is going to be fine for the playoffs. It's an interesting way of looking at it. I mean, I hadn't thought about it that way before just because, as you said LeBron has been so accommodating in helping Luca adjust and Luca, quite frankly, hasn't been

Starting point is 00:26:48 shy about putting himself on the ball. And I don't mean that as, you know, like a backhanded criticism or anything like that. He's supposed to be on the ball. He's the guy that both LeBron and JJ said is going to be the primary ball handler. He's going to have the highest usage. like all of that is by design. I'm just saying he has not looked the slightest bit uncomfortable with it. And I'm including game one. And again, that is a good thing. But that idea of meshing himself with the team, with the franchise,

Starting point is 00:27:25 from a pure identity and kind of like finger quotes the face standpoint, that's an interesting way of looking at it that I hadn't thought about before. You would agree, you would agree. And I think, you know, we certainly have all the people who have kind of migrated over from watching Luca with the Mavs. The one through line that we keep getting is like even Luca's good games are not like Luca's good games. Like we have not seen in the 11 games at the Lakers peak Luca Donchich, not for sustained stretches two, three, four, five, six games in a row. like the MVP level guy. He's still been pretty effing good, you know, for the most part.

Starting point is 00:28:11 I think, you know, we can, if we can get to see that, if he can get himself back into that space by really truly taking over what they're doing, aside from, you know, learning the two-man game a little bit better with Reeves, if that can help him get back to a more dominant place, before the playoffs come. Again, another potential benefit for the Lakers. None of this is good and none of this is optimal. I'm just saying that there are potential goods that can come out of it.

Starting point is 00:28:45 And that's where the Lakers are. You have to find the things that you can do to turn this into as positive as possible. And some of that is, hey, it's kind of nice LeBron could get three weeks of rest, you know. I see. Okay. That I don't buy. I have never bought that line of thought because your body goes through trauma. like two to three weeks would be LeBron going to Cancun and chilling.

Starting point is 00:29:07 Like the idea that LeBron somehow becomes more refreshed or rested, and like a lot of people, a lot of people run with that narrative. I don't. I don't know. He came back and refreshed earlier this year when he missed a couple games at the foot. But it was. I mean, he came back with a lot more energy and a lot more bounce. He was banged up.

Starting point is 00:29:30 He sat down. he got better and he played with more energy he got more energy more bounce and whatever he did i i think an injury you know if he's got a brutal injury that keeps him out for five or six weeks then we're talking about something completely different anyway if it really is a hamstring strain or a groin strain that can heal that allows him to you know you know maintain his body reasonably well and all that kind of stuff then he is off of his feet and not getting the abuse and all that kind of stuff. And there's, I think, a little bit of silver lining of less wear, like more rest. We'll see. I just don't buy that for an injury like this that came through specific trauma that's

Starting point is 00:30:16 been recurrent form. I will see. I've never particularly bought into that. I think the rest, you know, LeBron was definitely refreshed and he was going to get some of that anyway with the weird schedule, you know, it seemed to me more like it was just soreness as opposed to like more of a traumatic injury. We'll see. Again, this is something, this is a line of thought with players in general, particularly with lower extremity injuries that I've just never bought into, because I think there's a price that gets paid on your body. It's similar like when Andrew Beinem missed like five months because he had a sublixation, you know, his kneecap, basically. There's a big difference, there's a difference between.

Starting point is 00:30:59 being out of the game and out of rhythm and off your leg and you can't rehab and you can't do other stuff for five months than there is for you know whatever it is three or four days or five days a week of therapy and you start building back up from there that's not the same injury like again we're not the same injury it's not all the same but this is under the assumption that lebron is if a we if the if the timeline that they were even willing that people have been willing to even discuss is a week to two weeks and then, you know, maybe more, but like you're willing to even put a one in front of your in front of your two, then definitionally, this isn't, it seems until more information.

Starting point is 00:31:42 No, it's obviously not as severe as that kind of devastating traumatic thing. So when you got to be off your feet like Luca was from Christmas until whatever and you can't exercise for the first half of. of that. That's a different deal. This isn't that. It might be a different deal, but nobody said Luca was refreshed because he had six weeks off. That's my point. But right, but it's also not the same. But this is, I just don't buy that logic, period. But anyway, the side note, people can agree, disagree, leave your comments. I'm not a doctor anyway. I just don't buy that line of thought. I do think though, and if we're looking for, if not silver linings, I don't know, aluminum linings,

Starting point is 00:32:25 there are opportunities, well, silver's more valuable than aluminum. I know if you were that, no, for you, aluminum is still good, but not. There could be opportunities that would be valuable for guys like Dalton Connect to, you know, he's averaging like seven shots a game this season, depending on how long LeBron is out. You get more of those tonight. Right, that's what I'm saying. And like, that would be really good for Dalton. If, say, Luca ends up sitting tonight and we know we're not going to have LeBron,

Starting point is 00:32:53 We know we're not going to have Rui. You know you're not going to have Doreen Phiney Smith. Jackson Hayes, maybe plays, maybe doesn't. Like, this could be an opportunity for Dalton Connect to get 15, 16, maybe more shots. That would be really good for him. It could be an opportunity for someone like Jordan Goodwin, A, to keep building confidence, B, to make up for the mother of all bad turnovers against Boston. One of the strangest plays for those who don't know what I'm referencing,

Starting point is 00:33:22 there was a sequence where, and Jordan, just to be clear, Jordan has been terrific as a two-way. Yeah, he goes and he catches it instantly, throws it back. He looks like he's passing backwards to the referee. Except it was a past. He basically intercepted a pass to Austin Reeves from LeBron. Like he intercepted the past as someone else.

Starting point is 00:33:42 I think it was wrong place, wrong time, and he threw it to someone he expected to be there who clearly wasn't. Probably it was probably him who was supposed to be in that location. But it was not a good play. But like, you know, Jordan can keep making good on what he's done for this season, maybe get a few more minutes that really matter. Shake Milton can, you know, rise up with, you know, there was a, I don't remember which one, but a couple games ago,

Starting point is 00:34:08 shake ended up getting some extended minutes and played pretty well in them. Like there are opportunities for other guys to potentially gain some confidence and show what they can do. and you never know if you have to go back into that well down the road. And it would be good if those guys have positive experiences with extended minutes. All right. So we'll see what happens tonight with, especially with Luca, Jackson Hayes as well. Lakers do need to get him back on the floor.

Starting point is 00:34:36 But, you know, both of those guys, if they're questionable tonight, you would think that an extra day of rest in that sort of every other day pattern that it usually is. Lakers don't play again until Thursday. So it could be a real hodgepodge lineup tonight in Brooklyn. It will be probably either way, but especially if Hayes and Luca are not available. But looking down the road, hopefully both of those guys at least back on Thursday

Starting point is 00:35:06 and maybe Rui starting looking next week like he might be able to come back. So we'll see, knock on wood. Anyway, Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 33,000 subscribers to the channel. Andy and I will be back after the game. We will see everyone then.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LeBron James to Miss (at Least) 1-2 Weeks, Luka Dončić Questionable vs. Brooklyn

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.