ESPN's Brian Windhorst: Anthony Davis' injury is 'not good'

The Lakers haven't yet announced their evaluation of Davis, who collided with Denver's Nikola Jokic during Friday night's game. But ESPN's Windhorst believes the injury was very serious.

"Suffice to say, he's not going to be out a game or two," reported Windhorst on his podcast "Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective." "It's not good. It's not a sprained ankle. It's not a sprained foot. It's something a little more concerning than that."

A sprained ankle or sprained foot are not trivial injuries either. LeBron James sprained his ankle in March of 2021 and missed six weeks and 20 games. The Lakers would likely be even more cautious with Davis, whose injury history is quite extensive. He missed time with calf and Achilles injuries in 2020-21 and strained his groin during the Lakers' first-round series. Last season, Davis missed 42 games with an MCL sprain, an ankle injury, and a mid-foot sprain, in addition to a wrist injury.

The Lakers had seemingly turned their season around, winning 11 of their last 17 games, and defeating Denver and Washington without Davis over the weekend. On Monday, the Suns blew them out, but James and Russell Westbrook both sat.

Windhorst speculated that the Lakers' trade decisions would depend on how long Davis was out. Would they trade a future draft pick or compromise their near-max-level cap space this summer?

"They've got to choose between closing cap space or giving away the draft pick. And they're only going to do that if they believe this year's team can get something real done," Windhorst said. "If he is facing a month or longer (out), I wonder if they make the decision to just take it on the chin this year."

There's some reason for optimism - Davis wasn't wearing a brace or a boot at the Suns game - but the 12th-place Lakers' playoffs hopes depend solely on the health of AD's foot.