1. Thomas Bryant
This is perhaps the one positive to come out of the Anthony Davis injury for the Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Davis not being in the rotation is going to force Darvin Ham to give Thomas Bryant a bigger role — which he already deserved before the injury.
After missing the start of the season with a thumb injury, Bryant came back to the Lakers and played really well whenever Ham would actually give him a run during games. However, those chances were not consistent and did not happen enough.
Despite Bryant’s strong play, he still was not getting the playing time that he should have with Ham giving less deserving players more time. With such a lack of size on this roster, Bryant is now going to have a really big role on this team for the next month-plus.
We have already seen this translate in the two games in which Davis got hurt and when he didn’t play. Against the Denver Nuggets (the game AD got hurt), Thomas played 24 minutes and dropped a casual 21 points. No biggie. Then he played 33 minutes against the Washington Wizards and put up a 16 and 10 while making both of his three-point attempts.
Predicting the Lakers’ record while Anthony Davis is injured
The Anthony Davis injury is a massive blow to the Los Angeles Lakers. However, they could still stay afloat without their star big man.
It has been obvious to any Lakers fan that has watched the team that Bryant should be playing more. Now he is getting his chance to do so and it is important he makes the most of it.