With Austin Reaves dealing with a calf strain that sidelined him for months and limited his playing time upon returning and Luka Dončić missing four consecutive games with a hamstring strain, it’s been a while since the Lakers have been fully healthy.
However, coming out of the All-Star break, they appear to finally have their complete roster ready to go.
“Austin won’t have a minutes restriction, and as of 35 to 45 seconds ago, it looks like we’ll have everybody available tomorrow,” Redick said after
Thursday’s practice.
It’s a huge relief that Luka is now ready to go, but it’s far from a surprise.
Even before the break, Redick was pleased with Dončić’s progress on his injury and said he expected him to return for LA’s next game.
Despite missing the last Lakers contest, Luka did play in the All-Star Game. Granted, it was just five minutes, but the fact that he played at all demonstrated that his return was imminent.
Reaves being off his restriction is also far from a shock, but it is another piece of great news for Los Angeles.
He has “felt good” since returning to the lineup and had a monster game against the Sixers, scoring 35 points off the bench.
In fact, all of Reaves’ five appearances since coming back from injury he’s come off the bench and played under 30 minutes.
Now that he’s off his minutes restriction, he should be back in the starting lineup and can play over 30 minutes moving forward.
With Luka and Reaves back, they can join LeBron James, and the team’s top three stars can play basketball together again.
The Lakers have had only 10 games in which James, Reaves, and Dončić played together, and only eight in which they were all healthy and completed the contest.
It’s a credit to Redick and the rest of the team that they’ve been able to stack wins while being so shorthanded, but now they don’t have that problem or excuse.
They are healthy entering the most important stretch of the season, and with a home court advantage just as possible as a play-in spot, they’ll have everyone available and can prove which team between those two options they actually are.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
