Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The journey of 1,000 miles, otherwise known as "Operation Get Back to .500" begins with one step. That's tonight, as the Lakers play a promising-but-not-yet-good Detroit Pistons team at the Crypt. They'll have reinforcements, with Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant likely joining the lineup, and more importantly, with LeBron James a real possibility to suit up...

The many faces of Myles Turner trade chatter have been front and center this week

The Lakers still don't know if LeBron James will play Friday night against Detroit. He was a participant in Wednesday's practice, but only in the non-contact portions. Is it a sign he's not healing? Of extra caution? Hard to say. But one thing is clear - both games this weekend (Friday against the Pistons, Sunday vs. San Antonio, both at home) are super important not just from a wins-and-losses standpoint (can't keep making the hole deeper) but also vibes. Detroit and San Antonio are bad teams...

The Lakers have choices to make...

Tuesday's show was centered around the question of why the Lakers seem to be waiting before pushing hard on a trade. Multiple reports, starting in the preseason and moving through this week, have stated in one form or another that the team wants to see what it has with everyone available before making big decisions. In this case, seeing Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant in the lineup, both of whom ought to be back on Friday vs. Detroit...

With their team sitting at 3-10, Lakers fans have already done their evaluations, and have decided this team needs a great deal of help, and fast. So when more reports emerge the Lakers are in wait-and-see mode—this time from Marc Stein, who notes they want to see what it looks like when Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant return to the lineup, likely on Friday vs. Detroit—it understandably gets them upset...

More reports that the Lakers are waiting to see what happens when they're at full strength...

It's hard to have a must-win game after 12 games of an 82-game season, but Sunday the Lakers faced something pretty close to it. And with LeBron James still sidelined, they needed, and got, a monster performance from Anthony Davis. 37 points on 25 shots, plus 18 rebounds, 10 of them coming on the offensive side of things. He was unstoppable in the paint, delivering the type of game teams need from superstars in adverse circumstances. So what was different about Sunday's game, where A.D...

The Lakers got a game they had to have, and now have four days to prepare for their next game.

It's getting very bad. Very, very bad.