Anthony Davis injury proves Lakers right for not trading Russell Westbrook
By Jason Reed
Well, it was only a matter of time. One of the biggest x-factors surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers entering the season was the health of the team’s two superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. While James missed a short amount of time earlier this season, Davis put together perhaps the best basketball of his career.
Lakers fans will not see AD’s strong play for quite some time, as a foot injury is expected to keep Davis out for at least a month. The reports surrounding the injury that Davis suffered on Friday are less than ideal.
Lakers are bracing for an indefinite absence for the Lakers star, sources say, after he sustained the right foot injury in Friday’s win over Denver. Davis has played arguably the most dominant ball of his career this season. https://t.co/WCTr2y7eNp
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2022
If Davis were to miss a month he would miss 16 games, assuming he returns on January 18 against the Sacramento Kings. However, if Davis were to sit out until February, he would miss 24 games. Based on this report, fans can likely expect to be without Davis anywhere from 15-30 games.
It is a bummer as the Lakers were finally starting to show some potential this season behind AD’s strong play. At the very least, though, the front office avoided potential disaster by rightfully being patient on making any sort of big move this season.
This Anthony Davis injury proves why the Lakers were right to wait to trade Russell Westbrook.
Lakers fans have been pounding the table for the team to trade Russell Westbrook since the end of last season. Westbrook has played well off the bench this season but with there being potential around this team, many fans wanted to see Rob Pelinka maximize the value.
The reason against making a big trade with two future first-round picks was the ceiling of the team. Sure, LA could have improved, but it would have been a bad move to trade two picks and still not even be a contending team.
Davis’s injury history also provided a big reason to be patient with a Westbrook trade. After missing half of each of the last two seasons, the Lakers could not be confident that Davis would put in a healthy season. While he should be back for the playoffs, this is just another example of why the team was right to be cautious.
If the team would have traded two picks to move Westbrook and this happened the same fans begging for a trade would be cursing the front office for wasting valuable picks to not contend for a championship anyway.
It is an extremely unfortunate situation. All Lakers fans can hope for is that the team stays afloat while AD is out because without him, the team might have a better chance of giving the New Orleans Pelicans the first overall pick.