Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

This is true, man, every time it looks like there is no light at the end of that tunnel, someone comes running from the other side of it and like gives us a Ferrari, it’s really effing wild, and it makes me get why we are hated

 

Bill being upset makes me happy

 

It’s always good to see a C bag fan suffer.

 

Same. I woke up still bummed that AD and Max are gone. But it’s a business and I get the decision making. Hopefully Luka will embrace being a Laker and what that means. Got to move forward.

 

That's because everyone is now playing, jumping, fighting for every possession, realizing they could be traded at any point. You have a bunch of big wings on the team switching like they are being possessed by demons. And JJ is enjoying every minute of it. We look at least as good now as we did with AD. And that's without Luka, still. He does look ready to play though; said he just needs to do a full contact practice, but that's he's happy he took some time to recover for the first time in his career. That calf was bothering him because he always played on it, basically, instead of letting it heal fully.

 

It was during the press conference. He was asked about the calf specifically and offered that info. Something along these lines: "I finally took the time necessary for this to heal properly". He looked ready to play, and I think JJ mentioned in a short practice video that he just needs to do a 5-on-5 full contact. He could probably play on Saturday if he wanted, but I'd just be extra safe here and sit him until next week if he needs to do something extra. While he was still in Dallas, Luka said that his timetable was 5-7 days, so... I think he could play right now.

Quick edit:

I just found a report from about an hour ago that says:

"There is optimism that Doncic will return to the court before NBA All-Star weekend begins on Valentine's Day. Before the trade was announced, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the Mavericks were originally anticipating a Feb. 8 return for their star, but were worried about his conditioning then pushed it back a few days.

This report is backed up by reporter John Gambadoro, who says that Doncic was expected to play on Feb. 8 at home against Houston when the Mavericks returned from their five-game road trip.

Feb. 10 or 12 is the date to watch
On Monday, ESPN's Marc Spears reported that Doncic is eyeing a return on either Feb. 10 when the Lakers play the Jazz in Los Angeles or Feb. 12, when they travel to Utah."

They are probably going to give him the weekend to get used to everything, then... Monday is the target for his debut?