Getty Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James
With the Los Angeles Lakers no longer in the 2019 NBA Playoff mix, the focus has shifted a bit towards the offseason. But beyond that, Luke Walton and company are rolling out a few new-look lineups and giving some young players extended playing time. This has led to star forward LeBron James sitting games out at times and seeing slightly fewer minutes in some others.
On Friday, the Lakers play host to the Charlotte Hornets and the status of James once again remains a hot-button topic. After sitting out the team’s game on Wednesday against the Utah Jazz, which marked the second leg of a back-to-back, it’s looking positive for James to suit up against Kemba Walker and company.
Latest on LeBron James’ Status vs. Hornets
For those fans who’ll be in attendance for Friday’s game, there’s some good news as LeBron is trending towards playing. As Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet revealed, he’s listed as probable for this game.
LeBron James (sore groin) is probable for tomorrow’s game vs. Charlotte.
It’s not all that surprising, as James will enter this game with two full days of rest and the team has Saturday off. If this were the front-end of another back-to-back there could be at least a small chance of him not playing, but the expectation is that he’ll be out there.
Lakers Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Hornets
*Notates expected starters
C: JaVale McGee*, Tyson Chandler (Q), Mike Muscala (P)
PF: Kyle Kuzma*, Moritz Wagner, Johnathan Williams
SF: LeBron James* (P) Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Isaac Bonga
SG: Reggie Bullock (Q)*, Lance Stephenson
PG: Rajon Rondo*, Alex Caruso, Scott Machado
The lineup could look similar to the one we saw against the Jazz, with the exception being the addition of James. Both Tyson Chandler and Reggie Bullock missed that game and their statuses for Friday remain up in the air. Chandler is dealing with the flu currently while Bullock has right plantar fasciitis.
With Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram both already out for the year, the Lakers revealed some tough news for Josh Hart on Thursday. The second-year guard underwent a procedure on his right knee patellar tendon and will return to basketball activities in roughly 12 weeks. Hart last played on March 19 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the Lakers’ loss to the Jazz in their previous game, eight players saw 20-plus minutes while two others received double-digit playing time as well. That will likely change a bit with LeBron returning and could impact the playing time of Johnathan Williams and Moritz Wagner, who played 22 and 20 minutes on Wednesday.
Williams (eight points, six rebounds, two steals), Wagner (13 points, four rebounds) and Alex Caruso (13 points, four assists) led the second unit against the Jazz. How Walton distributes the playing time for all three will be worth keeping an eye on against the Hornets.
READ NEXT: LeBron Ripped for Instagram Post: Making Playoffs ‘Not Why You’re in L.A.’
Follow all of Heavy’s Los Angeles Lakers coverage here