Wesley Johnson sits out with injury, Byron Scott not worried
By Jacob Rude
For a couple hours Tuesday night, Lakers fans thought they’d been hit with yet another injury in arguably their thinnest position. Small forward Wesley Johnson tweaked his knee during Monday night’s preseason game against the Denver Nuggets and sat out during part of the second half.
Wes Johnson is out for the rest of the game with a patellar tendon injury, will be evaluated tomorrow.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 7, 2014
After losing Ryan Kelly during training camp and recently losing Nick Young to a thumb injury, all with Xavier Henry yet to practice as well, the Lakers were going to be in a bit of a crisis at the small forward position.
However, post-game reports suggested the injury wasn’t quite as serious as first feared, with Byron Scott not too worried about the severity of the strain.
BScott seemed confident Wes Johnson's tweaked knee was a minor issue. Termed it tendinitis. "Nothing that can really stop him from playing"
— Bill Oram (@billoram) October 7, 2014
While Johnson might not be the most talented player for the Lakers, he plays a vital role on a defender and is currently one of the only healthy small forwards the Lakers have. With Young and Henry manning the spot with Johnson for the majority of last season, the possibility of losing all three of them is worst-case scenario.
Still, the Lakers may need to figure out a Plan B. With the injury bug constantly ravaging the team and their lack of depth at the three spot, figuring out how to cope without Johnson, who very well could sit out Thursday’s match-up against Golden State as a precaution, needs to be a high priority. Will Kobe Bryant move over? Who backs him up? Could Julius Randle be forced into minutes as a small forward?