With a few minor bumps here and there, the Los Angeles Lakers appear to have mostly successfully transitioned into their highly anticipated new (well, semi-new) starting five, which consists of small forward LeBron James, power forward Rui Hachimura, center Anthony Davis, and point guard D’Angelo Russell, as the season nears its conclusion. Unfortunately, the same cannot be true for their reserves, as we have already stated on this blog. As of this writing, point guard Gabe Vincent, forwards Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood, and guard Christian Wood have not returned to the team despite rumors that at least Vincent and Vanderbilt could.
Wood just had arthroscopic surgery this week to fix his bothersome left knee. It appears likely that he is gone for the season with just three weeks left in it. Jalen Hood-Schifino, a first-round rookie draft selection who does not play in the team’s rotation, underwent back surgery this week as well.
It appears that Los Angeles will be lacking a relatively important bench piece going forward. At least this time, though, it might not be because of his personal health. Front Office Sports’ Trevor Lane reports that Taurean Prince, the backup 3-and-D Lakers combo guard, has been pulled out of tonight’s festivities against a tenacious Philadelphia 76ers club for “personal reasons.”
For LA, this is somewhat of a setback. Hopefully, Darvin Ham will decide against overworking his starters in spite of the escalating list of injuries. Max Christie, the swingman, and Cam Reddish, the small forward, appear destined to absorb Prince’s playing time. In just 28.2 minutes per game, Prince—a 6’6″ swingman from Baylor—is averaging nine points on.438/.387/.727 shooting splits (hitting on 38.7% of his 4.8 triple tries per night), three rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks.
The 30-year-old signed a one-year, $4.5 million sweetheart contract to play for the Lakers. Although there was some positional overlap with James, Hachimura has proven to be a superior match because of his athleticism and desire to score, even if he was long Ham’s favored starter. Hopefully, he returns sooner rather than later. The Lakers require fit bodies.
