Lakers Injury Report: Los Angeles Role Player A Surprise Late Scratch for Suns Game

L.A. can ill afford another injury absence.

Apr 6, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) defends the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers can ill afford another injury absence befalling their already-depleted roster. Unfortunately, that's exactly what they're getting.

Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic, reserve small forward Cam Reddish will miss Friday's bout against the Phoenix Suns due to undisclosed personal reasons. Bench center Jaxson Hayes, however, who had been merely probable due to a sore left foot, has seen his status upgraded to available just in time to suit up.

Hayes was the standout bench performer for L.A.'s surprise 110-103 victory against the reconstituted Minnesota Timberwolves, who swapped out four-time All-Star power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and draft equity just prior to this year's preseason. Hayes scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, in just under 16 minutes while backing up All-NBA center Anthony Davis.

Reddish was a healthy scratch in that same game, and clearly is not seen as a piece of Los Angeles' rotation by head coach JJ Redick. The 6-foot-8 Duke product was, like Hayes, once a lengthy, athletic top-10 lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Unlike Hayes, Reddish's weakness as a shooter (and his mediocrity as a defender) have made him something of a liability. Across 48 contests last year (26 as a starter, as ex-head coach Darvin Ham gleefully toggled his rotations seemingly without rhyme or reason), Reddish averaged a career-worst 5.4 points on .389/.336/.759 shooting splits, 2.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 swipes, in 20.5 minutes a night.

It remains to be seen how big men like Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt will be deployed when healthy, but presumably Vanderbilt (a far better defender than Reddish, if a similiarly poor shooter) will at least have a role. For now, Redick is starting Ham's year-end first five of point guard D'Angelo Russell, shooting guard Austin Reaves, small forward Rui Hachimura, power forward LeBron James (though James and Hachimura are often cross-matched defensively), and center Anthony Davis. Behind that first five, Redick has shown an early affinity for wings Dalton Knecht and Max Christie, point guard Gabe Vincent, and Hayes. Knecht's fellow rookie Bronny James, 20-year-old son of LeBron, played spot minutes on Tuesday, but that seems to have been more the exception than the rule. During a lengthy regular season, it seems at least possible that Redick will be amenable to a deep rotation.

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