Los Angeles Lakers forward Luol Deng explained why he didn’t play recently despite injuries piling up.
Injuries have derailed the Los Angeles Lakers in recent weeks. After coming out of the All-Star break on fire, they have cooled off considerably. The Lakers are riding a four-game losing streak, as injuries have hit them hard.
Josh Hart has been sidelined all of March. Brandon Ingram last played on March 1st. Kyle Kuzma missed a game. Corey Brewer was waived so that he could sign with a contender.
With so many injuries, the Lakers had to dig deep into their depth chart. Travis Wear was signed to a 10-day deal from the NBA G League. Derrick Williams signed a 10-day contract. Tyler Ennis and Alex Caruso were inserted into the rotation.
One player missing from that list is Luol Deng. Deng is healthy enough to play but hasn’t stepped on the court since the first game of the season. Deng started and played 13 minutes in the season opener with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope serving a suspension. That was the last, and only time, we saw Deng on the court.
With so many injuries, there were discussions about whether the Lakers should play Deng or not. He didn’t get on the court, as Luke Walton decided to ride his other players with more minutes.
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The decision not to play was something that Deng recently talked about. Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times shared what was said.
"“We just kind of all agreed that with 19 games, if I go out there and let’s say, God forbid, something happened,” Deng said. “The whole point was play the young guys [and] actually see what they could do in the summer with me and everything. If I was to get injured or anything, it would be a lot harder and it would it would defeat the whole purpose of me not playing 60-something games.”"
From the sounds of it, the decision to not play Deng was a precautionary one. The Lakers are going to try moving Deng again this summer, just as they did last summer and leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline. Had he gotten injured, that would have derailed any changes, no matter how slim, of moving Deng this offseason.
However, if the Lakers are going to land two max free agents this summer, moving Deng’s contract would help. If a team is going to trade for Deng, seeing him on the court would have been beneficial.
Yes, keeping Deng on the bench so he didn’t get hurt was smart. However, a team is unlikely to trade for Deng unless he shows that he has something he can offer them. Acquiring a soon to be 33-year old who has played 13 minutes in a season isn’t very enticing.
Trading Deng will not be an easy task. To rid themselves of Timofey Mozgov, the Lakers had to attach young guard D’Angelo Russell along with him. Attaching another young player or future asset to Deng’s contract is not something the Lakers should do again.
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It will not be easy, but Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have shown their resourcefulness in making deals thus far as the Lakers’ brain trust. If they are able to move Deng this offseason, it could be their most impressive feat yet.