LeBron James injury update, Lakers injury report, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Lakers trade rumors, Lakers trade targets, NBA trade rumors
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The Los Angeles Lakers offered a new LeBron James injury update, but at the same time continue to receive bad news on their top trade targets.
The Los Angeles Lakers have dealt with numerous injuries to start the 2025-26 NBA season, primarily affecting two of their key players, LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
James, in his record-breaking 23rd season and currently in a battle with Father Time, missed theteam’s last game against the San Antonio Spurs due to a foot injury and lingering sciatica. However, the latest update on theleague’s all-time leading scorer is good news for the Lakers.
According to the team and ESPN insider Dave McMenamin, Jamesis listed as probable for their upcoming game against the Milwaukee Bucks. However, the updatewas joined by the news that forward Rui Hachimura will miss the contest, ashe’s dealing with a calf strain.
“Per the Lakers: LeBron James hasbeen upgraded to probable for tonight, Rui Hachimura hasbeen downgraded to out,”McMenamin wrote in a post on X.
On the season, James is averaging 21.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists on 51.2% shooting in 18 games. He missed the first month of the season with sciatica, and his numbers saw a massive drop as he finally began to show signs of aging while taking a backseat to new franchise star Luka Doncic.
Lakers Injury Report, LeBron James Injury Update
While hehasn’t been the same player in years past and is showing even more signs of slowing down on the defensive end of the floor, the Lakers getting back James for their contest against the Bucks is good news, considering their recentslip.
Doncic remains top-notch, but with Reaves out for the past few weeks and set to miss more time, Los Angeles has lost five of their last nine and is now 16th in net rating after starting the season much higher.
But while James was previously questionable,he’s now probable and will provide at least some relief for head coach JJRedick’sroster.
Dave McMenamin
Per the Lakers: LeBron James has been upgraded to probable for tonight, Rui Hachimura has been downgraded to out
As mentioned, Reaves is out with a calf strain andisn’t expected to return until the end of January at the earliest, after suffering the injury on Christmas.
Hachimura is also listed as out with a calf injury andis expected to miss at least another game.Hehasn’t played since December 28th, andwhile he was in the lineup,there werea lot of up and downperformances, the Lakers could certainly use his length and shooting alongside Doncic.
Additionally, Los Angeles is without rookie Adou Thiero. The forward from Arkansas has only played in 15 games this season, and after going down with a right MCL sprain, is expected to miss at least three more weeks.
But while the Lakers deal with their numerous injuries, they continue toget bad luck in the trade market, according toall the latest reports.
Lakers Keep Getting Bad News On Trade Rumors
The Lakers have been linked toa ton of players over the past few monthsin trade rumors. While Giannis Antetokounmpo,everyone’s top target, does not appear to be on the market, even some of their lower-tier prospectsdon’t appear to be within reach.
LosAngeles has been linked to Trey Murphy and Herb Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans heavily, as both could offer some much-needed 3-and-D abilities that the current roster is very much lacking.
However, with the recent report that the price tag for both appears too high for the Lakers, it was most recently reported by NBA insider Chris Haynes that New Orleans has no plans of trading either, along with a number of their other players.
Chris Haynes
Sources: New Orleans Pelicans are disappointing the market in informing teams that Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears will remain with the organization past Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Additionally, the team hasbeen linked to Keon Ellis of the Sacramento Kings, a team thatlooks likeit’ll be a major seller with less than a month before the trade deadline. But in amajor roadblock, the New York Knicks appear interested, along with a few other teams that could use him in a bigger role thanhe’s currently in with the Kings.
Finally, even if the Lakers could have allof their top targets available, theydon’t have a lot of flexibilityas it relates to the assets they have and the moves they can make. In a recent article by Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN, they wrote that the Lakershave a ton of restrictionsbased on their current draft assets and salary cap.
“Despite theteam’s glaring flaws, particularly on defense, the Lakers have limited draft assets and are just a million dollars below their first-apron hard cap for the season, giving them little flexibility to make the improvements to the roster necessaryto truly become a threat in the West,”the insiders wrote.