Lakers Injury Report: 5 Ailing LA Role Players May Miss Preseason Debut

Los Angeles could be without several key pieces for its first 2024-25 exhibition action Friday.

Apr 29, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) lies on the court as forward Rui Hachimura (28) and forward LeBron James (23) and forward Jarred Vanderbilt (2) look on in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets during game five of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers' preseason is just hours away from tipping off, but L.A. may be suiting up for its Palm Desert matchup against the new-look Minnesota Timberwolves without as many as five players on Friday night, per ESPN's NBA injury report.

Guard Jordan Goodwin, an Exhibit 10 signing, is dealing with a hamstring injury, and missed the club's Tuesday practice. ESPN lists him as day-to-day, but probable to return for Friday.

Small forward Cam Reddish, who recently picked up his veteran's minimum player option for 2024-25 after clearly receiving little interest on the open market as a free agent, sat out 5-on-5 workouts Tuesday with what is listed vaguely as "soreness," though he did partake in other elements of team practice that day. Reddish, too, is expected to suit up, but is officially still day-to-day.

Two-way center Christian Koloko has yet to be cleared for a return to basketball activities, after missing the entire 2023-24 season with blood clotting issues. The team hopes Koloko, a long-term reclamation project, will be given the green light in time for the regular season.

Oft-injured power forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who played just 29 games last season with a foot malady, is questionable to even be ready for opening night, and will miss L.A.'s entire preseason (though he's still officially listed as day-to-day, with that October 22 regular season opener his targeted return date). Vanderbilt will be a crucial component of L.A.'s perimeter defense — if he can ever stay on the floor.

Power/forward/center Christian Wood, who like Reddish opted into his minimum deal for 2024-25 after receiving tepid interest elsewhere as a potential free agent, had left knee arthroscopic surgery on Monday, and is out for at least a month. Last year, Wood was brought in as a potential floor-spacing big to play both alongside and in the stead of All-NBA Second Team Lakers starting center Anthony Davis. Los Angeles would be the undrafted UNLV product's eighth NBA franchise in his eight seasons as a pro.

The year before, the 6-foot-9 big man finished ninth in Sixth Man of the Year voting for his play with the Dallas Mavericks — this is the 2022-23 vintage that tanked the end of the season to avoid the play-in tournament, not the Finals-bound 2023-24 juggernaut. Across 67 contests (17 starts), Wood averaged 16.6 points on .515/.376/.772 shooting splits, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks. That version of Christian Wood would have been useful. Instead, L.A. had him for just 50 games (then-head coach Darvin Ham often benched him completely for his defensive woes). He averaged a scant 6.9 points — his worst output for a full season since 2016-17 — on .466/.307/.702 shooting splits, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.7 blocks. Los Angeles is certainly hoping that the career 37.2 percent 3-point shooter (on 3.3 attempts a night) just suffered a floor-stretching blip last year, and that JJ Redick can rehab him from his unseemly 30.7 percent long range conversion rate.

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