Lakers: Team Considering Shutting Down Larry Nance Jr Through All Star Break

The Lakers are considering shutting down Larry Nance Jr. through the All Star Break

As a late first round draft pick, Larry Nance Jr. has been a pleasant surprise in an otherwise awful season but Sunday afternoon, Lakers’ insider, Mike Bresnahan, revealed that the Lakers may shut him down until further notice due to a lingering knee issue.

This is troubling for many reasons, the biggest of which being the fact that Nance tore his right ACL in 2014, the same knee which is currently giving him problems.

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When it comes to ACL injuries, they have become happenstance in professional sports, with surgery and treatment pushing downtime to an all time low, but it still raises cause for concern, especially seeing how young Nance Jr is.

Averaging 10.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per 36 minutes, Nance does the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet, always making the correct rotation, hustling for loose balls, etc.

However, looking on the bright side, this could actually serve as a blessing in disguise for the Lakers, as it will not only allow Nance much needed time to rest and recuperate, but it will open up more minutes for Julius Randle, and hopefully, Tarik Black.

Knowing Byron Scott, these invaluable minutes will probably be redistributed to the likes of Ryan Kelly and maybe even Robert Sacre, but one can hope.

Next: With Nothing Left to Lose, LA Should Give Robert Upshaw A Shot

Sunday night the Lakers face off against the Charlotte Hornets in Los Angeles, so the answer to that question will come soon enough.