MVN - Most Valuable Network

Is Andrew Bynum done for the year?

Eight weeks have come and gone and Andrew Bynum is nowhere near being close to returning to the Lakers.  The latest report has him slotted to be back by the first round of the play-offs, but even that sounds iffy at best.  The problem Andrew is having is his knee is swelling up after workouts.  This is typical during the early rehabilitation of any injury.  The problem is, Andrew’s not progressing at the rate he would need to, to get back on the court anytime soon.

Andrew can run on those anti-gravity treadmills all he wants, but until he can get on the court on a consistent basis, he’ll continue to be a month away.  He needs at least 2-3 weeks just to get into shape, and if he cannot run on consecutive days, how can that happen?  My feeling on this is that Andrew might not be back this year.  His value to the future of the Lakers is so strong, that it makes no sense to take a risk that might further injure his knee.

Phil Jackson was asked about Andrew’s progression and he sounded somewhere between hopeful and politically correct:

“His injuries all about the amount of swelling that’s going to happen because of the exercise, because of the pounding that he’s going to take on the court, and how long it’s going to take for that to subside,” Jackson said. “Will he be able to get the swelling out of there in 24 hours and be able to play [the next day]? That’s what we’ll have to wait for.”

Phil was pressed for a potential return date and replied, ”I anticipate that’s still a couple of weeks away, maybe three weeks away, before he’s actually on the court, doing some things. So we’re still hopeful that he’s going to be in the first round of the playoffs.”

If he’s 2-3 weeks away from getting on the court and needs 2-3 weeks to get into NBA playing shape, well it’s March 19th already and the play-offs start April 19th, give or take.  Look for the Lakers to be patient with the young giant, and try and make a go at the title with the Kobe/Pau team that was tearing up the NBA prior to Pau’s injury.  If Andrew does come back, the Lakers would welcome him with open arms, but it looks more and more, that his return will be next year.

The Lakers also need to realize that Trevor Ariza is probably not going to be back either.  The Lakers are reporting that he won’t be ready for the start of the play-offs, and sometimes I wonder if the Lakers are withholding information on injuries so as to not alarm the fans.  On another note, Chris Mihm is expected to begin practicing next week.  It’s getting to the point where I think we should just cut him, as he’s never healthy.  It’s not his fault and I’m not blaming him, just the way it is.  This would allow us to sign both Ira Newble and Gerald Green or even go big to replace Mihm.

The reality of the situation is Bynum and Ariza are probably not going to help the Lakers this year, due to their injuries.  The Lakers need to give Pau enough rest to get his ankle to 100% or close to it and they better keep a close eye on Kobe’s finger and hope he doesn’t re-injure it.

Next game the Lakers travel to Utah and face Deron Williams and the Jazz.  The Lakers are currently tied for first in the Western Conference with Houston as the Rocket 22 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Boston Celtics last night.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am and is filed under Andrei Kirilinko, Amare Stoudamire, Pacific, Greece, Brian Cook, Georgia, DJ Mbenga, Valdosta Daily Times, Police, NBDL, Elton Brown, Chris Mihm, Charles Oakley, Colorado, Gambling, Jerry Buss, Portland, ed ziti, Kings, Oden, Rony Turiaf, Rick Mahorn, Javaris Crittenton, Jordan Farmar, Don Marbury, Vladimir Radmanovic, Aaron Jay Sapiro, Stu Lantz, referees, fouls, free throws, line, Betting, Lee Riley, Maurice Lucas, Wes Unseld, The Winner Within, Church, Bets, Willis Reed, Bob Nightengale, Coby Karl, Trevor Ariza, Larry Bird, Knicks, Smush Parker, Leandro Barbosa, Sacramento, Larry Brown, Pau Gasol, New York, NCAA, Kobe Bryant, Phoenix Suns, Isiah Thomas, Rockies, Mike Dunleavy, Eddy Curry, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Grant Hill, Andrew Bynum, Pat Riley, DJ Strawberry, Jackie Butler, St Johns, Reggie Theus, Rick Adelman, Mitch Kupchak, Lakers, Sasha Vujacic, Derek Fisher, Shawn Marion, Kwame Brown, Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Jerry Sloan, Don Nelson, Raja Bell, Devean George, Baron Davis, Los Angeles Lakers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.