The worst-case scenario for the Los Angeles Lakers has arrived. A depleted frontcourt will have to get by without Anthony Davis in the lineup. This is the last thing that the Lakers needed.
The good news is Davis is not expected to miss too much time. The Lakers announced on Twitter/X that their superstar center will miss approximately one week with an abdominal muscle strain. That is as close to flirting with disaster as one can come.
LAKERS MEDICAL UPDATE:
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 29, 2025
Lakers forward Anthony Davis underwent an MRI today that confirmed an abdominal muscle strain. The injury occurred in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s game at Philadelphia.
Davis will return to Los Angeles today and be re-evaluated in approximately…
The Lakers will be tested without Davis over this next stretch of basketball games. Based on the injury update provided by the team, they will be without their dominant big man for their matchups against the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Clippers. There may be a chance he misses contests against the Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers too.
The majority of those matchups come with a threat of being bullied on the interior without Davis. For a Lakers team that is 26-19, it is not unreasonable to believe this is a make-or-break stretch of the season. Sitting only a game above the Play-In Tournament standings, racking up a handful of losses could prove self-destructive in the long term.
Lakers can push for a readily-available trade target to patch the need
Reactive measures can often be bad ones. However, given the fact that the Lakers have needed frontcourt help all season, this is a situation where that need is only amplified as opposed to newly created.
With a week left until the NBA Trade Deadline on Feb. 6, sooner is better than later for the Lakers front office to be patching up this issue. One realistic target is a name Marc Stein recently connected to Los Angeles: Jonas Valanciunas.
"Washington's Jonas Valančiūnas is another off-mentioned Lakers trade target and would appear to be the most gettable proven big man for L.A. to pursue given all the parameters it has been weighing, but substantial momentum on a Valančiūnas-to-Lakerland deal has yet to manifest."Marc Stein
Valanciunas to the Lakers has been a notion that has dated back to this past offseason, before the veteran big man opted to join the Wizards, as a free agent, instead. Stein pointed to the fact that this potential trade does not have momentum yet, but this is a situation where Rob Pelinka and company do not have much time to rest on their laurels .
The 13-year-pro is not the perfect solution for the Lakers. However, Valanciunas does bring some good upside as a backup big man. While this move would not be of the same caliber as a trade for someone like Myles Turner or Walker Kessler, it should be a relatively inexpensive and realistic addition for a team that is, quite frankly, desperate for the help.