The Los Angeles Lakers are going to be without Anthony Davis for at least a month after the All-NBA big man suffered a foot injury against the Denver Nuggets on Friday. The situation with AD’s injury seems to be fluid with there being no guarantees that he returns in the month timeframe.
This could not have come at a worse time for the Lakers, who were finally starting to come into their own and gain some momentum. Now, the team goes from building mode into survival mode, hoping to just stay relevant in the Western Conference until AD returns.
If Los Angeles is going to do that then they are going to need very particular players on the roster to step up and play their best basketball over the next month-plus.
3 Lakers who must desperately step up with Anthony Davis injured:
3. LeBron James
We will start with the most obvious player. LeBron James has had his ups and down this season. There are games where he looks like vintage LeBron and then there are games where he turns it into a three-point shooting contest in which he comes in last place.
LeBron is going to have to play efficient basketball, and most importantly, is going to have to showcase his leadership abilities. LeBron has had the tendency to check out when things get bad in the past and that is the last thing that the Lakers need out of him during this stretch.
Nobody should expect (or want) him to play like 2013 LeBron and put the entire team on his back, but we are going to have to see a more calculated LeBron who takes over certain stretches of games to keep the Lakers in it.
It is about more than just scoring, although he will do a lot of that without AD. It is about scoring efficiently, which has been James’ biggest issue this season.
2. Lonnie Walker IV
Someone is going to have to step up and be the second scorer on this Lakers team without Anthony Davis. And as much as Russell Westbrook wants to be that guy, it should not be him. He is not nearly efficient enough and he best suits this team as the energy guy off the bench that gets his teammates going.
So while Westbrook might view this as an opportunity to play a bigger role and help his team win, it really isn’t. His role should not change on this team and we should see other players step up instead.
The main candidate is Lonnie Walker IV, who has been a surprising addition to this Lakers team. Signed with the Taxpayer’s Mid-Level Exception, Walker has been better than anyone could have expected for LA this season.
While he has had his ups and downs, Walker has shown at his best that he can be a dynamic shot-creator and scorer that can take over stretches of games. His three-point shooting needs work, but overall, when Walker is right he is really right.
He is the no. 1 candidate to take over as the second scorer on the Los Angeles Lakers. Nobody is going to step up and fill in AD’s production alone as it will be a team effort but Walker should be the one that sees his points per game jump the most while AD is out.
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.