Los Angeles Lakers: Avery Bradley is out for Orlando, J.R. Smith in?

Avery Bradley is not rejoining the Los Angeles Lakers and J.R. Smith might.

A bombshell Lakers news update hit last night when Avery Bradley opted out of joining the Los Angeles Lakers in Orlando according to Adrian Wojnarowski. The rumors are already pointing at J.R. Smith as his replacement. Lake Show Life breaks down what the Lakers miss with Avery Bradley and gain with J.R. Smith.

To Los Angeles Lakers fans around the world, Lake Show Life has one question. Who thought that two players that had pit stops with the Memphis Grizzlies last year and/or offseason would be all over the Lakers news at this point.

Both came in with mixed reviews and Lakers Nation did not know what to make of one (Avery Bradley) and outside of this writer and a scant few just didn’t want (Dwight Howard).

While Lake Show Life was skeptical about how Avery Bradley would play based on his awful tenure in a Los Angeles Clippers uniform and his performance on a bad Memphis team, we can take credit for knowing Dwight Howard’s credentials. We did beg before the season started.

Related: Los Angeles Lakers: Do yourself a favor and sign Dwight Howard!

Both have been good, real good. They have accepted their roles seamlessly and were up to last night the last two that were questionable on their decisions to travel to Orlando. Even Danny Green wasn’t sure when he recorded his podcast even though he was possibly foreshadowing the hottest Lakers news in months.

Well, the Lakers news shoe dropped a few hours later. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Avery Bradley has decided to opt-out of participating in the Los Angeles Lakers title run in the Orlando bubble next month. It happened less than 24 hours before all NBA players were to officially make their decision. Bradley joins two other NBA players that dropped out a day earlier.

• Trevor Ariza [Portland Trail Blazers]: Drops out for family considerations. He has court-ordered visitation that conflicts with the NBA restart to the season.
• Davis Bertans [Washington Wizards]: Drops out due to upcoming free agency after playing the most productive NBA season of his career. Couple that with two ACL injuries in his past, he’s not risking a possible big payday.     

It is being reported that Avery Bradley made his decision based on family reasons.

Avery Bradley’s statement via. ESPN.

"“As committed to my Lakers teammates and the organization as I am, I ultimately play basketball for my family,” Avery Bradley said. “And so, at a time like this, I can’t imagine making any decision that might put my family’s health and well-being at even the slightest risk. “As promised also, I will use this time away to focus on the formation of projects to help strengthen my communities.”"

The health of Bradley’s son was not a known factor before Bradley’s statement, but the decision is definitely the right one. Family should come first, second and third to any family man. But since the debate of whether to continue the season or not has shown the integrity and credibility of many, it won’t be as simple as Avery being a good family man.

There are always two sides.

Some will understand the circumstances of spending months away from his family (Reports say his son Liam wouldn’t have passed his health screens to enter the bubble.) with the worries of health concerns wouldn’t help Bradley or the Lakers in this pandemic. Trying to compete for an NBA championship requires focus. Avery Bradley wouldn’t have been worrying about his family.

Or…there’s this.

Some will refuse to ignore Bradley’s views on the current state of our country by way of protests and that could have played in his decision. Bradley was clear on wanting to see progress from the NBA in regards to the racial inequalities and show improvement in the hiring practices and makeup of front office and league executives.

Whatever the reason, it can’t be denied that the Lakers title chances will take a hit.

Danny Green was interviewed by Caron Butler for the NBA, discussing what it would mean for the Los Angeles  Lakers if Bradley and Howard (Potentially!) decided to stay home.

"“I think it’s just important that we’re together. Obviously we’re going to need Avery Bradley, we’re going to need Dwight Howard to be playing for us to have a chance. But I think it’s important that we stay healthy — and not just our team, but the league. Everybody that’s in the league has to have a unified front on what we’re going to do and speak with one voice. “But for our team individually, as a group, Lakers, we need to be together, we need to be on the same page, we’ve got to stay healthy. I think we have some professional guys that are on top of it and actually staying in shape during this time, so I think we’ll be a little ahead of the curve with that.”"

In other Lakers news, now that Avery Bradley is out, it didn’t take long for rumors to fly that J.R. Smith is the odds on favorite for the roster spot. Lake Show Life has been following Smith’s free agency through the trade deadline.

• Lakers Rumors: The guy who really broke the J.R.Smith workout story!
• Lakers Rumors: The Lakers need to do the right thing and sign J.R. Smith!

Now let’s get to the basketball side of this discussion. With Bradley unavailable, the Los Angeles Lakers will have a hole to fill and it will not be easy. Lake Show Life breaks down what the Lakers lose with Avery Bradley and gain with J.R. Smith.