The los Angeles Lakers, who have not been in a good position, defeated the Jazz at home in the last round of games and successfully avoided a four-game losing streak. Although a win was finally won, the situation of the Lakers, which has been mired in the mud this season, has not improved. According to a number of authoritative media reports before the game, Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn, who was previously reported to have returned near the end of January, had repeated and aggravated injuries during his recovery, and the return schedule of the two-legged defender was extended indefinitely. Lakers coach Vogel also confirmed the message in a post-game interview and told the media that the team does not have a timeline for Nunn's return. Nunn's aggravated injury not only seriously affected the Lakers' tactical planning for the regular season in the second half of the season, but also made the Lakers' attractiveness in the trading market significantly reduced. Objectively speaking, for the Lakers, this may be something that is more reluctant than a slide in the record.
Nunn, 26, made his debut with the Heat and is the most high-profile rising star of the 2019-20 season. As a lost draft, Nunn continued to improve step by step, winning the Rookie of the Month three times and being selected as the rookie of the season. After two seasons with the Heat, Nunn left the team to join the Lakers in the summer of '21, but he has hung up his free card after several preseason appearances. It is reported that Nunn's knee injury is not serious, but it needs a long recovery period. After nearly half a year of recovery, Nunn has gradually started training with the ball earlier this month. However, when the Lakers decided to gradually increase the amount of training for the guard and plan to make him debut at the end of January, Nunn's knee once again had a bad reaction, which forced the Lakers to re-plan Nunn's comeback plan. According to the lakers' official information, they can't guarantee that Nunn will return to the team this season, in other words, the two-legged defender is likely to be reimbursed for the season.
While Nunn has never played, his role in the Lakers' roster this season has been significant. Before the season began, the Lakers planned to put Nunn in the role of a second-team ball-handler, who had the ability to fit James and Westbrook with or without the ball. But after Nunn was injured, the Lakers had to break up the time that Westbrook and James played, and even discharged the three-guard lineup that Bradley, Westbrook and Rondo played together, which was one of the main reasons for the Lakers' poor record in the first half of the season. In the case of Westbrook's poor performance, the Lakers very much hope that Nunn, who averaged 14.6 points and 2.6 assists per game last season, will become the team's second possession player and try more combinations, but now the plan has basically declared bankruptcy. In the foreseeable future, the Lakers still need the "nerve knife" Munch and Bradley to play a better offensive performance.
Nunn's injury has also seriously affected the Lakers' trade difficulty. In order to put together the Big Three lineup, almost all of the Lakers' lineup vacancies this season have been filled by basic salary contracts, except for the Big Three, only Tucker and Nunn's contracts are not basic salaries. Considering that the Westbrook market is poor and Tucker's contract is just over 10 million, if the Lakers want to trade quality role players such as Jerami Grant, they need other player contracts to match, and Nunn's five million a year contract is a good chip. But now, With Nunn once again entering a long recovery period, it is estimated that no team will be willing to take over his contract. After all, after this year's contract ends, Nunn will have a chance to jump out of the contract from the player option. If the two-man chooses to jump out of the contract, the team traded with the Lakers may lose all their money. Do fans and friends think the Lakers still have the possibility of improving this season? Welcome to discuss and communicate in the comments section!