Los Angeles Lakers rookie center, Moritz Wagner, will be sidelined through the preseason with a knee injury.
The Los Angeles Lakers are going to be kicking off their 2018 preseason tonight against the Denver Nuggets. Fans are excited to see LeBron James don the purple and gold for the first time in a game. However, another new addition to the team will not be playing.
First-round pick, center Moritz Wagner, will not be suiting up on Sunday night. In fact, Wagner will not be suiting up at all during the preseason.
According to Lakers sideline reporter, Mike Trudell, Wagner will be sidelined the remainder of the preseason with a knee contusion. The knee contusion was suffered during Summer League play over two months ago.
Trudell adds that Wagner will be re-evaluated following the preseason.
Lakers first round pick Moe Wagner will be out for the duration of the preseason due to the knee contusion he suffered at summer league. He’ll be reevaluated at that point.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) September 29, 2018
This is a tough blow for Wagner, as he had a chance to earn some minutes in the frontcourt. With only JaVale McGee and Ivica Zubac on the depth chart at center, Wagner could have had a role right from the start of the season. Now, that is unlikely.
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Wagner will miss some important learning time by being sidelined. The preseason presents an excellent chance for young players to get their feet wet in the NBA and learn to play alongside their new teammates. Wagner will miss all of that time.
While Wagner will not be playing in games, there is no word on how much he is participating in practices. If he is able to partake in some capacity, training camp isn’t a totally lost cause. However, not playing in games is not ideal.
We saw Josh Hart miss preseason time last year and it put him behind the eight-ball. He eventually got things on track, but he was not much of a factor at first. It took Hart until mid-late December to lock down a rotation spot, which was really only prompted because of other injuries.
With Wagner sidelined, we will see what Luke Walton has up his sleeve for the center position. LeBron James, Michael Beasley, Kyle Kuzma and even Brandon Ingram have been mentioned as possible answers at the center position.
The Lakers are going to have to get creative in the frontcourt with their minute distributions. Preseason is a great time to experiment with those lineups. Unfortunately, it comes only because of an injury to one of their young players in Wagner.