It has been a rough season for the Los Angeles Lakers when it comes to injuries as just about every player has missed time with some sort of ailment. That continues as the team announced that two-way rookie center Colin Castleton will be re-evaluated in two weeks after suffering a right wrist fracture.
The Lakers are currently as hobbled as they have been all season with Christian Wood, Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent all out with injuries. Additionally, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been dealing with their own issues that have had them on the injury report.
With so many bigger guys out, head coach Darvin Ham recently hinted at the possibility of Castleton getting some rotation minutes.
This is obviously a tough break for Castleton considering he was in line to potentially receive his first legit NBA playing time. It’s unclear when the injury took place, although it likely was while he was playing or practicing with the South Bay Lakers.
The Lakers originally signed the center to a two-way contract as an undrafted free agent out of Florida and he has impressed so far in his Summer League and G League minutes.
Overall in 24 games with South Bay, Castleton has averaged 16.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks while shooting 57.1% from the field.
Given where the season is at, if Castleton is not able to recover quickly then his rookie campaign could be over with. The team will certainly be cautious in bringing him back to ensure he is not at risk of further injury.
With so many players out, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers make any sort of roster move to address their lack of size although Castleton showed enough promise that they likely will not want to part ways with the 23-year-old.
Christian Wood not expected to miss too much time for Lakers
The reason Castleton was potentially in line to get some minutes was because Christian Wood went down with knee effusion. The team announced that he would be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks, although reports indicate that there is optimism he won’t to miss more time than that which is obviously great news for the Lakers.
If the Lakers can get Wood back soon then their need for another big man is alleviated. More injuries can always happen though so the situation will be worth monitoring moving forward.
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