When the Los Angeles Lakers submitted their traveling party list to the NBA for its restart at Walt Disney World, it featured the maximum 17 players. The NBA officially announced rosters for each of the 22 teams in the bubble, which again for the Lakers was comprised of 17 players.
Of course, the team is without their full allotment. Avery Bradley had announced his decision to opt out of playing well before the Lakers traveled to Orlando, Florida, and while there, Rajon Rondo suffered a fractured thumb during practice.
Rondo has since left the bubble to under surgery and is projected to miss six to eight weeks, which puts his return at late in the first round or start of the second round of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, indications have been Markieff Morris did not join the Lakers on their chartered flight earlier this month because of an excused absence. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Morris is now en route to enter the bubble:
Lakers‘ Markieff Morris is en route shortly to Orlando to join the team for NBA restart, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 21, 2020
Upon arriving at the Grant Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, Morris will need to enter a quarantine phase before he can officially return to the court with the Lakers. It’s unclear how long that period will be, but in most cases players have needed to register two negative tests for coronavirus (COVID-19) over 48 hours.
The Lakers play their first of three scrimmage games on Thursday.
Multiple reports Tuesday morning said the other Morris twin, Marcus, was back practicing with the L.A. Clippers. Similar to Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, coach Doc Rivers had declined to fully address Marcus’ status or state whether or not he was on the campus.
Practice times proving challenging
Vogel has spoken highly of players’ focus and performance thus far in practices, but scheduling has presented the team with a bit of a challenge. The NBA determines when teams will practice, which for the Lakers has amounted to short turnarounds in some cases.
“We went from a 5 o’clock practice to a 12 o’clock practice the next day, then a 9 a.m. practice,” Vogel said recently. “We’re under 24 hours (returning to the court) each of those times.
“Again, trying to just factor in all these things to make sure we’re managing their bodies and the buildup the right way.
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