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The Lakers injury report has, going back to the trade for Luka Doncic from the Mavericks in February, featured a wide range of players, from stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic on down to bottom-of-the-roster role players.
But one name that has been on the list all along since the trade was made is big man Maxi Kleber, who came to L.A. from Dallas to help make the financials work. Kleber had foot surgery in January and he not been active since.
Well, with the Lakers' season on the line, that appears to be changing. The Lakers, trailing the Timberwolves by a 3-1 margin as the series heads back to Los Angeles for Game 5, could have Kleber back in the fold.
Multiple videos from L.A. showed Kleber on the floor warming up ahead of the Lakers-Timberwolves game.
As reporter Arash Markazi wrote on Twitter/X: "BREAKING NEWS: Maxi Kleber is on the court warming up for the Lakers and is hoping to play tonight."
It's a long way from Kleber hoping to play, however, to coach JJ Redick actually trusting him to make his debut in a do-or-die playoff game. After all, he has not played since Jan. 25 and has never played with his current Lakers teammates. It'd be an odd introduction to the rotation.
Still Redick did acknowledge that Kleber could play.
But Kleber has a reputation as a quality stretch-big, something the Lakers are decidedly lacking. He is not a defensive stalwart, and can't provide the kind of rim protection the Lakers really need, but he does have playoff chops, making 38.8% of his career postseason 3-pointers in 44 games.
Continue reading...
But one name that has been on the list all along since the trade was made is big man Maxi Kleber, who came to L.A. from Dallas to help make the financials work. Kleber had foot surgery in January and he not been active since.
Well, with the Lakers' season on the line, that appears to be changing. The Lakers, trailing the Timberwolves by a 3-1 margin as the series heads back to Los Angeles for Game 5, could have Kleber back in the fold.
Multiple videos from L.A. showed Kleber on the floor warming up ahead of the Lakers-Timberwolves game.
As reporter Arash Markazi wrote on Twitter/X: "BREAKING NEWS: Maxi Kleber is on the court warming up for the Lakers and is hoping to play tonight."
It's a long way from Kleber hoping to play, however, to coach JJ Redick actually trusting him to make his debut in a do-or-die playoff game. After all, he has not played since Jan. 25 and has never played with his current Lakers teammates. It'd be an odd introduction to the rotation.
Still Redick did acknowledge that Kleber could play.
But Kleber has a reputation as a quality stretch-big, something the Lakers are decidedly lacking. He is not a defensive stalwart, and can't provide the kind of rim protection the Lakers really need, but he does have playoff chops, making 38.8% of his career postseason 3-pointers in 44 games.
Continue reading...
