The Los Angeles Lakers hold a 3-11 record entering Wednesday's contest against the Memphis Grizzlies. Only the winless Philadelphia 76ers have fewer victories than the Lakers this year, and the way things are looking, that may not change anytime soon.
The ongoing theme for Los Angeles this season has been injuries. The team has been attempting to win games despite dealing with the rehabilitation of Kobe Bryant and Nick Young, along with the season-ending injuries to Steve Nash and Julius Randle.
Unfortunately, according to the latest news surrounding the Lakers, things are going from bad to worse. Here's a look at the latest buzz surrounding this injury-plagued franchise.
Kobe Bryant's Fatigue
It's no secret Bryant has been struggling this season. While he's putting up an impressive average of 26.7 points per game, he's taking way too many shots to reach that number. His 38.1 shooting percentage from the floor this season is by far the lowest of his career, and his struggles have been even more apparent late in games.
Bryant's shots have been falling short lately, and head coach Byron Scott thinks that's due to fatigue. According to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, Scott is considering limiting his guard's minutes as a result:
This may be the best move the head coach has made during his short tenure with the team. After all, playing a 36-year-old Bryant coming off a major injury for 44 minutes against the Denver Nuggets was a terrible idea.
Even Bryant is speaking of changes he's looking to make in an effort to help his condition, via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:
We'll see if this new regimen, along with fewer minutes each contest, will leave Bryant with a little something extra in the tank late in games.
Xavier Henry's Injury
Henry is the latest in a long line of Lakers players to suffer a season-ending injury. He ruptured his Achilles tendon during Monday's practice, and the surgery required to repair the injury will keep him out for the remainder of the year, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com:
This marks the third player Los Angeles has lost for the season. The team was given a disabled player exception earlier this season for Randle, and according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, the team was recently awarded a $4.85 million exception for Nash. His report also noted the team is expected to apply for another exception for Henry.
While applying for an exception is one thing, Henry was only set to make just shy of $1.1 million this season, via Spotrac.com. Gaining half of that salary by disabled player exception may not be enough to acquire a viable replacement.
In nine games off the bench this season, Henry averaged 2.2 points, shooting 23.1 percent from the floor in 9.6 minutes per game.
Ronnie Price's Standing
Price has played a backup role at point guard to Jeremy Lin this season; however, according to David Pick of Basketball Insiders, the team may have viewed him as expendable:
Pick does make a good point, as losing Henry for the season may change Price's standing with the team. However, he hasn't been performing at a high level this season. Through 13 contests, Price is averaging 3.3. points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 21.0 minutes per game.
There's also another interesting tweet from Pick:
According to Spotrac.com, Price's contract isn't guaranteed; however, since he wasn't waived before Nov. 15, he's now owed $329,202 from the team. The Lakers could cut their losses and release him, but they have until Dec. 15 before his guaranteed money doubles, giving the team a little bit of time to decide.
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