Exciting news emerges on Lakers center Maxi Kleber

Los Angeles Lakers big man Maxi Kleber has been medically cleared to make his season debut Saturday night in Atlanta, according to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. He had been listed as questionable with a strained abdominal muscle, but he was upgraded to available shortly before game time.

Kleber told Price that he’s “gonna be ready, just be prepared and be back out with the guys, get back in rhythm and routine.”

Maxi Kleber set for Lakers debut

Kleber was acquired from Dallas in February as part of the Luka Doncic trade, but he has yet to appear in a regular-season game with the Lakers. He was recovering from foot surgery at the time of the deal and remained sidelined until the season ended. He did make one playoff appearance, logging nearly five minutes in Game 5 during the first-round loss to Minnesota.

Kleber was healthy coming into training camp in September, but he tweaked his quad on the second day of workouts. He suffered the oblique strain shortly before the start of the regular season, with a reevaluation set for two weeks later.

Kleber was a serviceable big man during his eight years with the Mavericks and will provide additional depth for L.A.’s front court. He appeared in 440 games in Dallas, making 151 starts and averaging 6.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 22.3 minutes per night. His career shooting numbers are 44.3% from the field and 35.4% from three-point range, but both percentages dropped sharply last season.

Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura have been healthy and productive early this season as the Lakers’ starting center and power forward. The team has also been getting production off the bench from Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia and Jaxson Hayes, so there may not be many available minutes for Kleber right away.

Kleber, who will turn 34 in January, has an $11M expiring contract and will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.