Podcast: With LeBron James returning and DeAndre Jordan to the bench, the Lakers might finally make sense

To take you behind the curtaiNormally, off days are usually somewhat tough to figure out topics for. Today was no such day. From LeBron James coming back from COVID protocols more than a week earlier than previously though, an update on Avery Bradley’s sprained thumb, Frank Vogel borderline beefing with DeAndre Jordan and Russell Westbrook’s rivalry with biology, Harrison Faigen and I had a tough time fitting everything into this episode of “The Lakers Lounge.”

Let’s start with LeBron being let out of the health and safety protocols eight days ahead of schedule.

For a Lakers team heading into a tougher stretch of games and in dire need of reps with all three of James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, this is some of the best news they’ve received all season. On top of that, Vogel announced to everyone in a way we have literally never seen before that Dwight Howard would be supplanting DeAndre Jordan in the starting lineup. It is impossible to overstate how big a development that is on several levels, but we tried to contextualize everything that stood out to us about how Vogel handled everything.

We also discussed Bradley’s thumb situation, and how Jordan moving out of the rotation might really impact how we see his play, even if we’re a little nervous about an already iffy shooter wearing a splint on his shooting hand.

Finally, we wrapped with some incredibly positive signs pointing in the direction of Trevor Ariza’s impending return, and how that unlocks a lot of what the Lakers want to do on both sides of the ball. Well, technically, we wrapped on an unfortunate trip to my attic, but you’ll have to listen all the way through for that.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.