LOS ANGELES – New Los Angeles Lakers forward Ziaire Williams will miss his third straight game due to a foot injury as the team squares off against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday evening. Williams has been part of the starting lineup from the beginning of the season, and Lakers head coach JJ Redick acknowledged that the team wanted to be cautious with his potential return amid a compressed schedule.
“The images have been clean. I would describe it as soreness that just pops up in the morning, and he’s feeling a lot better,” Redick said during his pregame press conference before the Raptors game. “I think just being, again, cautious with the back-to-back.”
Ziaire Williams had dealt with a foot injury during the Lakers’ preseason schedule, sidelining him for three of their five games. But he was ready for the start of the regular season, and had been one of the team’s most consistent players through the first four games.
The No. 10 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Williams signed with the Lakers in the offseason via free agency on a minimum contract. Amid the Lakers’ front office desire to get younger and more athletic on the wings, Williams was a prime target.
During the first four games of the season, the former Stanford star had stepped into a starting role at the four and was playing a little over 28 minutes per game. He was averaging a career-high 11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals with splits of 57.1 percent shooting from the field, 46.7 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 85.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His shooting percentages were career-bests as well.
Williams has been asked to a primary point of attack defender this season, while providing forward duties as well in terms of helping control the glass. While not directly correlating Williams’ injury with his role, Redick admitted that the current level of physicality in the NBA can be demanding for players in his position.
Article Continues Below“I just think the game is just physical right now. You could say like, a guy is picking up full-court, and that’s a physical toll on him. But then he’s probably also asking to crash every single time,” Redick said. “And then he’s got to, on the other end, pick up full-court, guard multiple actions and then box out all the crashers on their team. The whole game is just physicality right now, that’s all it is. There’s no, ‘I can hide tonight and not be physical.’ I think it’s just one element of what this game is right now.”
Williams’ next potential opportunity to get back on the court will be Monday, Nov. 2 as the Lakers face off against the visiting Miami Heat on the second night of a back-to-back.