The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off their biggest win of the season on Sunday afternoon as they defeated the Golden State Warriors in blowout fashion. The Lakers remain the worst team in the Western Conference, but they have a bunch of young guys whom they believe can be key cogs to their future, including D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle.
Another young player for the Lakers who doesn't get mentioned much is rookie forward Anthony Brown whom the Lakers like a lot. Brown was the Lakers' second round pick in the most recent draft out of Stanford, and he made the team out of training camp. But Brown missed the Lakers' win over the Warriors, and he may have to miss the rest of the season.
Brown injured his foot last week, and an MRI revealed he had a stress reaction in his right foot. The Lakers announced that he would miss at least four weeks after the MRI, but with about a month remaining in their season Brown may not see the court again this year. Head coach Byron Scott said that he expects Brown to be done for the season given his timetable and where we are in the NBA season.
This injury couldn't have come at a worse time for Brown as he was finally getting his chance to show what he could do for the Lakers. For the majority of the season Brown has been up and down from the D-League, but before the game against the Warriors he had started four consecutive games. Brown did not put up big numbers in those games, but he did average more than 30 minutes in those starts.
Brown's shooting numbers this year are pretty bad, and overall nothing in his stat line will jump out at you, but he hasn't had much opportunity in his rookie season. Brown has appeared in just 29 games this season, although in those 29 games he is averaging 20.7 minutes. The 23-year-old does have a guaranteed contract for next year, so odds are he will be back with the Lakers, but this is a big opportunity missed. The former Stanford star has the ability to be a rotational player for the Lakers moving forward, but unfortunately he likely won't have a chance to show it over the final month of the season.
