After falling to the Utah Jazz on Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers are 2-6, and the loss seemed to expose the team’s lack of frontcourt size other than Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
Head coach Darvin Ham has been playing Davis exclusively at the 5, and while going with him there is advantageous in certain situations, it isn’t something the team should do nearly as much as it has.
Luckily, they may be about to get some help in that department.
Center Thomas Bryant has been out since the start of the regular season with a thumb injury, but he has been prepping for his return by putting in work at the Lakers’ facility.
Thomas Bryant looking good in workout pic.twitter.com/4VlQ9xaHhV
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) November 4, 2022
Thomas Bryant, about 2 1/2 weeks removed from thumb surgery, did some on-court work after shootaround Friday pic.twitter.com/sbcZm1if8i
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 4, 2022
In fact, about a week ago he engaged in a “thumb war” with teammate Dennis Schroder, who has also been out with a thumb injury.
Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant playing thumb war against each other to test their strength and recovery.
Both players are out for the same Injury. (via YouTube) #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/gG0xLxXCbj
— Omar Siddiqi (@osid24) October 28, 2022
The return of Thomas would, at least in theory, allow Davis to play a good chunk of his minutes at the 4, which would make the Lakers more dynamic on the defensive end and harder to get into the paint against.
It remains to be seen if Ham will stay with Davis at the 5 in the starting lineup or if he will move the superstar big man to the 4 while starting Bryant at center.
Both Thomas and Schroder are scheduled to be re-evaluated sometime in the coming week.
