Lakers injury report: Latest on Austin Reaves, Hayes, Vanderbilt, Wood

The Lakers have struggled to just have players available lately.

Austin Reaves has missed the last five games with a contusion in his left pelvis after a nasty fall against the Thunder. LeBron James sat out Sunday’s game against the Blazers with left foot soreness and is “unlikely” to play against the Wolves on Friday.

On top of that, the trio of Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt have also been out at various times this season. After Wednesday’s practice, JJ Redick gave updates on the very long injury report, starting with Austin Reaves.

Reaves on the way?

Reaves has been considered day-to-day with his injury, but also left the Lakers’ road trip early to receive treatment on his injury.

“I wouldn’t call Austin a full-fledged participant (in practice),” Redick said. “There was one thing he sat out that we suggested and (director of player performance) Leroy (Sims) agreed with us, probably not good for him. The nature of the exercise, it was mainly a physical exercise and just want to pay attention to pain tolerance.

“But he was a full participant in all the live five-on-five stuff and all the breakdown drills.”

This Reaves update certainly sounds positive. With at least 48 hours between the Lakers’ practice on Wednesday and the team’s game at Minnesota on Friday, it feels likely that he will return this weekend.

Hayes’ ankle sprain remains a concern

Hayes has had the worst luck with his left ankle sprain. First, he injured it in mid-November and missed two weeks of action. He returned on the original timeline the Lakers had for him, which is a rarity, but sprained it again in his first game against the Suns on November 26.

It was reported that he would be out another two to three weeks, and Redick’s latest word on his status indicates that he will need at least the full three weeks before returning.

“No update on Jaxson (Hayes). His kind of target for return date is in flux,” Redick said. “So if we have anything, we’ll give it to you.”

The Lakers need to be careful with Hayes’ ankle. He’s had two damage on it, so the last thing you want to do is rush him back and cause more damage.

Still, it hurts the team, where the only current backup bigs are two-way players Christian Koloko and Armel Traore. It’s hard to beat teams as short-handed as the Lakers are in the frontcourt, and with Hayes out, the team has struggled to go 7-6 in those games.

For now, it looks like they will have to pay arrears since the sentence “in flux” means that until we hear otherwise, Hayes expects to remain out.

Don’t hold your breath on Wood or Vando

This is another non-update for Wood and Vando as neither looks set to return and has not played a single game for the Lakers this season.

At the end of the above quote about Hayes, Redick chimed in: “Same with Christian (Wood) and Vando.”

Wood’s injury odyssey has been a long one. He had left knee surgery in the summer and suffered a setback in his rehabilitation. He is now past the four-week re-evaluation period the Lakers last mentioned.

Before those comments from Redick, the last news on Vanderbilt’s status came Dec. 3, when the team said he suffered a setback in rehab and aimed to return in early January.

This news doesn’t necessarily throw cold water on this timeline, but I bet my bosses are checking to make sure it doesn’t happen. (ed. note: I did not agree with that).

He also does not train during the part of training that the media is allowed to see. It feels unlikely he would move up from no visible work on the field to matches at the beginning of January, when we are already in the middle of December.

From a fan’s perspective, Wood and Vando are players who should be out of sight and out of mind. The Lakers have demonstrated over the years that when they kick the can this far down the road, you have to stop waiting for them to pick it up.

The best news is that Reaves is getting better and Hayes is a waiting game. We’ll see if that’s enough to win games to close out December.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.