Los Angeles Lakers: 2 players that benefit from Avery Bradley’s absence
By Jason Reed
Los Angeles Lakers that benefit: 2. Alex Caruso
The players that were already slated to be in the rotation are not going to pick up all of the minutes that Bradley played and there is going to have to be someone who steps up and provides more playoff minutes than they otherwise would have.
That person is going to be Alex Caruso, who suddenly is going to have a role on the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs and a decent one at that.
On paper, you could make this case for any of the guards that are deep in the playoff rotation. However, there are reasons against Dion Waiters, J.R. Smith and Quinn Cook all being bigger beneficiaries.
This does not change anything for Waiters. These seeding games and scrimmages were essentially going to be open tryouts for Waiters to make the rotation and not having Bradley does not better his chances. He still has to compete for that spot, just as he would have otherwise.
Smith obviously benefits as he was not on an NBA team prior to this but I do not even think it is set in stone that he will have a playoff role. While people are lauding his playoff experience, he is in the same situation as Waiters. He needs to earn his spot, especially considering he was pretty bad the last time we saw him.
Cook is an intriuging option but he is rather one dimensional as a three-point scorer and in this deep of a rotation he still won’t see tangible playoff minutes.
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Caruso, on the other hand, appeared to be the first guy out of the rotation if Bradley would have played and would have been reserved to clean-up duty in blowout games. Now, as an existing member of the team with solid defense, he is in the driver’s seat to command more minutes than Waiters, Smith and Cook.