Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Players who must step up with Rajon Rondo out

The Los Angeles Lakers received some bad news about Rajon Rondo, as he suffered a hand injury and will be out for a couple of months. Who will need to step up in his absence?

As the Los Angeles Lakers get ready for their season to resume, they suffered a loss on Sunday night, as Rajon Rondo suffered a hand injury during practice.

Rondo is expected to be out for 6-8 weeks, which is a good chunk of the rest of the season. For the Lakers, the point guard position has been a bit of an issue for them for most of the year. In addition to Rondo now being out, the Lakers already knew that they would be without Avery Bradley in the bubble.

So, the Lakers will now be down two of their point guards from the regular season when the league resumes, and that will be challenging to make up for. Recently, the Lakers did fill Bradley’s roster spot with J.R. Smith.

Smith hasn’t played in the NBA this season, but signing him now looks even better with the guard depth of the Lakers being tested.

For most of the season, James has been the primary ball-handler for the Lakers. Now, the Lakers will be without their secondary ball-handler off the bench with Rondo out. The Lakers’ offense hasn’t nearly as good when James is off the court, and that has been due to the inconsistent player of Rondo.

Some nights, Rondo looked great running the second unit, but others, the Lakers struggled to score. Even though Rondo has been frustrating at times for the Lakers this season, he played an important role for them. Here are three players who must step up with Rondo out.