You never want to see a player go down due to injury, especially when that someone is Luka Doncic. The Mavs star has been having another historic season, and is a surefire MVP candidate early on. During the game against the Miami Heat on Saturday night, Doncic quickly exited in the first quarter after turning his ankle while driving to the basket. He was diagnosed with a moderate ankle sprain that is could keep him out until after Christmas. While losing Doncic for any amount of time is a significant blow, Dallas reportedly feels it "dodged a bullet"' as the injury could have been a lot more serious. In fact, Doncic was apparently seen by teammates running on the underwater treadmill at halftime.
Still, it doesn't help that the Mavericks' schedule isn't getting any easier this week. After facing the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, they'll have dates with the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors -- all among the East's best -- every other day. Without Doncic, Dallas will be lucky to win one game during that stretch.
Injuries have not been kind to Kyle Kuzma this season. He already missed four games to start the season after rehabbing over the summer from a left foot injury he suffered while playing for Team USA, and he's been sidelined for the past three games with a sprained ankle. In between that time, he's played 20 games for the Lakers, averaging 11.1 points and three rebounds a night. Both of those numbers are significant drops from his averages a season ago. Granted, he was starting in all but two games he played in 2018-19. This season, Kuzma has not been able to make a big enough impact for the Lakers coming off the bench.
Kuzma's minutes are down from 33.1 to 23.1 this season, mainly because he isn't a consistent enough shooter or strong enough defender to be on the floor. There's a reason Alex Caruso has received so much praise this season, because when he comes in the game he can knock down shots. That's something Kuzma can't do, and as strong as the Lakers have been to start the season, when it comes time for the playoffs they'll need all the scorers and defenders they can get their hands on to give them more of an edge. That's why trading Kuzma for another wing player would be the right move for the Lakers.
Read more here: CBS Sports
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