UPDATE: Dec. 28, 2:16 p.m. — Davis will return to the lineup on Monday night against the Portland Trail Blazers after missing Sunday’s win over the Timberwolves due to a calf strain. LeBron James remains questionable to play on the second night of a back-to-back. With AD back in the lineup, Kyle Kuzma should return to the bench. It’s a minor downgrade to his value in fantasy, plus Montrezl Harrell (only slightly).
Anthony Davis (right calf) will play Monday against Portland, while LeBron James’ playing status (left ankle) is still to be determined, sources tell ESPN
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 28, 2020
Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Anthony Davis will not play Sunday vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves due to a calf strain, coach Frank Vogel announced this afternoon. Davis was deemed questionable to play on the injury report after Christmas Day. He looked just fine on X-Mas, dropping 28 points with 8 rebounds and 5 assists for 50 fantasy points.
Anthony Davis (calf strain) will not play tonight for the Lakers
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) December 27, 2020
This may become a theme with the Lakers coming off the long playoff run. We should see AD and LeBron James miss more games to rest as the season progresses. James is probable to play on Sunday. Let’s take a look at some players who may step up or end up starting with Davis sidelined.
So we know that Montrezl Harrell ($6,100) will likely still come off the bench in the role he’s used to. That could mean a few guys enter the starting lineup. We saw Markieff Morris ($4,300) take on that role in the postseason and he could end up being the veteran that starts but doesn’t see a big increase in usage. The other candidate is Kyle Kuzma ($5,700), who may end up coming off the bench still but should see more minutes and usage with Davis out.
The Lakers could use LeBron ($10,000) a bit more at PF when Harrell isn’t on the court. Marc Gasol ($4,100) hasn’t been playing too many minutes despite starting at center. We could see lineups featuring LeBron, Harrell and Kuzma in the front court with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Dennis Schroder in the back court.
The line on the Lakers-T-Wolves game is L.A. favored by 9 points. We could see this go down slightly with this news, but Karl-Anthony Towns is still sort of banged up and the Lakers should still have enough to beat the T-Wolves pretty easily. The O/U is set at 228, so that’s a number I’d maybe look at a bit. No AD could mean the Under is favorable but we also may see less defense on the interior. KAT should have an easier time.