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In addition to shutting down Timofey Mozgov with 15 games remaining in their season, the Los Angeles Lakers have also shut down Luol Deng as part of a continuing effort to get more minutes to evaluate their young players, according to Baxter Holmes and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Deng being shut down comes as somewhat of a confirmation, given that he has not played for the Lakers since their February 26th loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Shelburne and Holmes report that the Lakers “could revisit the situation with either player before the end of the season, the plan right now is for both to remain inactive.”
Deng — the Lakers highest paid player — is averaging 7.6 points on 7.6 shots to go with 1.3 assists in the first year of a four-year, $72 million contract.
The Lakers (20-47) have the second-worst record in the NBA and are 1.8 points per 100 possessions better with Deng on the floor, but still have been outscored by 6.4 points per 100 possessions during his minutes.
All stats per NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com. Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.