Lakers star big man Anthony Davis had an encouraging practice session on Thursday, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets.
According to coach Darvin Ham, “He did jump in with the group today, did some non-contact stuff, pick-and-roll drills, a little offensive scripting. He’s looking good. Moving well. … Got a great sweat in [during an] individual workout … He’s progressing really, really, really well.”
Davis has a general timeline of early February to suit up again. He has been out since December 16 after suffering a stress reaction in the navicular bone in his right foot.
We have more on the Lakers:
- Guard Kendrick Nunn is one of the most tradeable pieces on the team, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. Nunn is on an expiring contract and could be part of a package for a frontcourt player. “He could help someone,” one executive told Deveney. “But they need to show he is healthy. He’s got a very manageable contract and they’re dying for size on that team.”
- They have lost three close games over the past week and LeBron James laments how injuries have impacted the team, noting they have “zero room for error,” according to McMenamin. “We are limited with bodies,” James said. “So until some of our big guys or some of our key guys get back … we’ve got to continue to play how we’ve played the last couple games. Play mistake-free basketball.”
- James has averaged 34.9 points while playing 37.7 minutes per game. Ham would like to reduce his aging superstar’s minutes, McMenamin writes in the same story. “He’s playing at an amazing level, but we can’t run him in the ground,” Ham said.
- If the Lakers remain committed to chasing championships with Davis and James, they may be better off adding multiple role players prior to this year’s trade deadline, according to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Even if they let all their current free agents walk, they still might be priced out of the market for a top-level free agent while still having many roster spots to fill, as Gozlan explains.
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