Lakers News: Latest on Kobe Bryant's Health and Roster Cuts
Kobe Bryant sat out the Los Angeles Lakers' 104-102 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday with a bruised lower left leg. According to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Bryant is scheduled to run on Tuesday and could play in the preseason finale on Thursday.
“He wants to play,” Byron Scott said, via Medina. “But we’ll see how he feels Thursday. If he’s 100 percent, we’ll go from there. If he doesn’t, we’ll wait until next Wednesday.”
Next Wednesday is the Lakers' season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It sounds like the 37-year-old should be ready to go when the games start to count. Nervous Lakers fans might hope Scott takes the cautious route and sits Bryant for a final meaningless preseason game. Sure Bryant wants to play, but would you expect anything less from the famously determined athlete?
Bryant is likely to undergo as much scrutiny as ever in his purported final season. Many wonder about his impact on the team as they prepare for a future without him in a young core that includes Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson.
CBSSports.com's Matt Moore passed along data from SportsLine that suggests the Lakers would have a 4.5 percent better chance of making the postseason if Bryant does not play this season. While he listed some obvious caveats to that projection, he also reminded fans to look at the big picture and what an aging, shoot-first, miss-often Bryant does to the team (emphasis in original):
"The big picture: This data is not something you should throw away, in that if Bryant does not play better than he has the past two seasons, he will make the Lakers worse. It's important to note Bryant is healthier (though already he's dealing with a leg contusion), that the Lakers are better, and that Bryant's role has changed. Both things can be true without discarding criticism or ignoring context.
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A healthier, energized Bryant focused on playmaking and defense would be much, much better than what the Lakers have received from him in the past couple of years, especially when it comes to shooting the ball.
| 2012-13 | 78 | 38.6 | 46.3 | 32.4 | 83.9 | 27.3 | 23.0 |
| 2013-14 | 6 | 29.5 | 42.5 | 18.8 | 85.7 | 13.8 | 10.7 |
| 2014-15 | 35 | 34.5 | 37.3 | 29.3 | 81.3 | 22.3 | 17.6 |
The best thing the Lakers can hope for is Bryant, with all his accrued basketball wisdom, learns to cede control over the direction and flow of the offense to the younger guns, even if the growing pains are painful for him to watch. Either that, or Bryant fixed a field-goal percentage that has dropped rather precipitously in his past few injury-marred seasons.
The good thing is that Bryant should be at or near 100 percent to start the season, per Scott's comments to Medina, so the latest Lakers experiment will hopefully start in ideal conditions.
Which players join Bryant to start the campaign is another question entirely. Roster cuts loom large for the Lakers, who are set to scale down their squad from the current group of 19 before the team's final preseason game on Thursday against the Golden State Warriors, per NBA.com's Joey Ramirez:
"Scott said that he will not cut anyone from the roster before Monday’s game, but aims to do so prior to Thursday’s. The Lakers currently have 19 players and must trim down to 15 for the regular season."
Non-guaranteed players Jonathan Homes and Michael Frazier are two of the obvious chops, as neither has done much to distinguish himself in limited preseason action.
Although he just finally got around to playing, impressive point guard Marcelo Huertas should be a lock to make the team as a veteran floor general and the best pure passer on the team since Kendall Marshall. He drew praise after dishing out eight assists in 19 minutes against the Blazers on Monday, via Lakers.com's Mike Trudell and Lakers Nation's Serena Winters:
On Oct. 13, the Los Angeles Times' Eric Pincus suggested Robert Sacre's job could be in jeopardy:
"The lone player with a guaranteed deal (nearly $1 million) on the bubble appears to be center Robert Sacre. While he's a legitimate 7-footer, and an exuberant locker room presence, Sacre may need to beat out both Tarik Black and Upshaw to keep his position.
Black is non-guaranteed at $845,059. While he's a bit undersized, Black is also a great teammate and is more athletic than Sacre.
Upshaw, on a rookie contract at $525,093, comes in with a very different reputation after getting dismissed from both Fresno State and Washington for team violations.
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Tarik Black has impressed in spurts this preseason, averaging 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The same can't be said for Sacre or Robert Upshaw.
| Robert Sacre | 4 | 11.0 | 2.8 | .400 | 2.5 | 0.5 |
| Robert Upshaw | 4 | 14.1 | 2.5 | .556 | 3.0 | 0.5 |
Sacre is the known commodity in Los Angeles, but he's never been a vital part of the team and the Lakers could jettison him in favor of Upshaw's youth and renowned shot-blocking potential. Defense has been an issue for the Lakers in recent years. The Lakers very well might let Sacre go along with the aforementioned Holmes and Frazier, while also parting ways with Jabari Brown.
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