LOS ANGELES — Throughout Lakers coach JJ Redick’s pre-game press conference on Thursday, each injury update turned into a lingering question of how long each of his players could be out for.
Veteran guard Marcus Smart had been “dealing with his hip” for the past few games, an ailment that keeps him off the court and considered day to day, Redick said, heading into the finale of a five-game homestand on Saturday night.
“(Smart) wants to play, but you know, really, just we need (his hip) to calm down,” Redick said. “We got a really tough stretch. We’re in the midst of a really tough stretch and some travel coming up … and we expect him, that he’ll hopefully be back on Saturday against Denver.”
Center Jaxson Hayes (back soreness) received imaging on his back and the team is still awaiting those results. Backup big man Maxi Kleber’s lumbar strain is an aggravation of previous ailments this season – an injury that Redick said will likely keep him “out for a little bit.”
But the Lakers did receive one piece of good news on Thursday. After sitting out for three games, first nursing a left elbow contusion and then a right hip contusion to go along with his lingering left foot arthritis, LeBron James returned to the starting lineup against the Chicago Bulls. The three-game absence was James’ second-longest since he missed the first 14 games of the season while dealing with sciatica.
With James healthy and available, Redick said he was comfortable with the team’s frontcourt depth despite only having starting center Deandre Ayton available among the standard contract players on the roster.
“When Rui (Hachimura) is healthy, LeBron’s healthy, Luka (Doncic)’s healthy, there’s three big wings, and you know, Jake (LaRavia) as well, that we can play small with,” Redick said.
#### REDICK PRAISE THOSE DEVELOPING ‘ON THE FARM’
South Bay Lakers coach Zach Guthrie has the Lakers’ developmental squad rolling in the G League, picking up their 10th consecutive victory on Wednesday to tie the franchise record for a winning streak.
Lakers guard Bronny James is currently on pace for a 60/40/90 season – field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage, and free-throw percentage – among his 11 games in the G League this season. He scored 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting in Thursday’s 123-116 victory over the Iowa Wolves in El Segundo. Redick said Guthrie has helped the Lakers two-way contract and rostered players continue to develop when they’re not getting play time with the parent club; such as in recent weeks as the Lakers head into the home stretch of the regular season.
“Zach’s done a fantastic job of coaching our players,” Redick said. “And the G League is a place for development. It was literally called the development league. It used to be called the D-League, which a lot of people forget. It is the development league. So it’s just been an incredible opportunity for our guys to develop.”
“I thought Bronny had, you know, just a fantastic year last year,” Redick added. “Adou (Thiero) has done some really good things down there. It’s given our two-way guys a chance to get runs when you know they’re not with us. And you looked at the roster that we have when we have some of our rostered guys down there with all three of our two-ways, it’s a really good team, and Zach has really coached, not only the team well, but he’s coached our guys well, and they’ve really bought in.”