The injuries to Lakers stars Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves brought a cloud of uncertainty. Neither player has a set timeline for their return and they have many more questions than answers about their status.
When it comes to Reaves specifically, after the initial news of his diagnosis, there has been little other updates or news. On Monday, Shams Charania of ESPN stated Reaves would be out until at least May. On Tuesday, head coach JJ Redick said that he and Luka remain out indefinitely.
Brian Windhorst
of ESPN tried to provide some more reporting on Tuesday about Reaves and his potential return. At least kind of.
In his podcast “Brian Windhorst & the Hoop Collective,” Windhorst, unprompted, gave an update on Reaves, but made sure he hedged his bets about five times during the sentence.
“There are potential Laker playoff opponents who felt that it was a better chance, based on their analysis of the situation, that there was a better chance that Austin Reaves could play sooner rather than later and that as this team was preparing to potentially see the Lakers, that they were preparing for Austin Reaves potentially to play in that first round series at some point.”
For those keeping track at home, that was three different uses of potential/potentially.
So, that basically means you can put however much into this report as you wish. There are pretty easy ways to pick it apart. Obviously, opposing teams will prepare for every scenario so they aren’t caught off guard. Naturally, that would include preparing for Reaves to return at some point.
At the same time, based on what Charnia said and the likely schedule of the series against the Rockets, Reaves could come back at the end of the series if it extends to six or seven games. It’s not going out on a limb, then, that Reaves could return for the series.
As is the case with Luka, the worry is that he rushes back and causes an even more serious injury. Earlier in the season, he came back from a calf strain, played just two games and then was out again. The Lakers will surely want to avoid that scenario as well.
And so, that leaves us back in a situation where it’s hard to really tell when Austin might come back. For the sake of their playoff hopes, ideally it’s sooner than later.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
