Lakers Hit With Devastating Injury News Before Spurs Game

The red-hot Los Angeles Lakers (6-2) will look to extend their four-game winning streak when they face the San Antonio Spurs (5-1) on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, as many as six players on the roster are on the injury report, including Austin Reaves, who is questionable with right groin soreness.

Injury report versus the Spurs [H/T Jovan Buha]:

Jaxon Hayes (right ankle sprain) is PROBABLE

Austin Reaves (right groin soreness) is QUESTIONABLE

OUT:

LeBron James (right sciatica)

Maxi Kleber (abdominal muscle strain)

Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery)

Gabe Vincent (left ankle sprain)

The loss of Reaves would be a devastating blow for the Lakers. The fifth-year guard has played in seven of the eight Lakers games thus far, carrying the team’s offense when LeBron James and Luka Doncic have been sidelined.

Austin Reaves Leading the Lakers

Reaves leads the Lakers in total points (218), assists (65), three-pointers made (21), and plus/minus among starters (+46), while shooting an impressive 48.9% from the field. With James (0 games) and Doncic (four games) dealing with injuries, Reaves has almost singlehandedly carried the Lakers’ offense, best evidenced by his USG%.

The 27-year-old has seen his USG% skyrocket to 29.5 this season, a marked increase from his 23.1 last year and 19.8 in the 2023-24 season. Reaves’ year-over-year improvement in every metric has made him one of the most coveted free agents entering the 2026 class. With Reaves expected to turn down his player option for the 2026-27 season, some analysts feel he could earn a contract north of $40M per season.

Austin Reaves Due for Big Pay Day

NBA insider Marc Stein recently said that Reaves has shown the ability to carry an offense by himself, and seems to play better without Doncic or James on the floor.

“He looks great next to Luka, he looks great without Luka,” Stein told the All NBA Podcast. “You see the two of them, they’re getting along so well. There truly is already a friendship blossoming there. And so the

Lakers, obviously, they would love to see this continue.”

However, Stein felt Reaves was better off remaining with the Lakers, the team who took a chance on him as an undrafted player in 2021.

“There is no sense at this point that Austin Reaves is looking anywhere else,” he added. “I think if we had Austin Reaves on this show and got candid answers from him about his future,

I think he would say that he wants to be in Laker land.”

Reaves is averaging 31.1 points, 9.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals through seven games thus far. He is almost a lock to make an All-Star team if he continues to build on his career-best season.

Former Lions QB Released Just Months After Joining New Team

The Detroit Lions made quarterback changes going into the 2025-26 season, because even though they have a solid franchise signal-caller in

Jared Goff, his backups were in question. Now, Goff’s backup quarterback is Kyle Allen, so if Goff goes down, Allen is really the only player on the active roster who would step in.

But, at one point, the Lions had hope for readying a different backup quarterback for Goff. That was Hendon Hooker, their 2023 third-round draft pick. Detroit released Hooker on August 25 of this year, just weeks before the start of the regular season. It was an expected announcement at the time, although a disappointing one, since when the Lions picked him up in the draft, he was promising.

In Tennessee, he threw for 6,080 yards, 58 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 68.8% of his passes, according to Sports Reference research. But, before letting him walk, Lions coach Dan Campbell even told reporters he felt Hooker could use a change of scenery, suggesting the outcome that became reality.

“Hooker lost the preseason battle for the backup quarterback job to veteran Kyle Allen, who outplayed Hooker in the Lions’ four preseason games and was clearly the better choice by the conclusion of their preparatory period,”

Nick Shook of the NFL’s site stated in a feature at the time.

Ex-Lions Quarterback Looking for a New Home

Hooker was quickly signed by the Carolina Panthers during the offseason and had been serving on their practice squad. But, that all ended on Tuesday, November 4. Amid the drama of trades happening before the NFL’s trade deadline at 4 p.m. Eastern time, the Panthers quietly released Hooker.

“Hooker’s departure seemed inevitable once the Panthers signed Mike White to their practice squad two weeks ago, and then, earlier this week, signed him to the active roster,” Charean Williams NBC Sports notes

. “Hooker became the odd man out as the fourth quarterback once Bryce Young was fully healed.”

In other Panthers moves, the team released tackle Michael Tarquin and linebacker Carlos Basham from the practice squad, and they signed running back

DeeJay Dallas and safety Israel Mukuamu to the practice squad. They also signed guard Ja’Tyre Carter as a practice squad exception.

Ex-Lions Signal-Caller’s Release Has to Do With Making Room for New Players

As Anthony Rizzuti of the USA Today’s Panthers Wire notes, the moves meant Hooker had to go. “To make room for Dallas, Mukuamu and Carter, the Panthers released quarterback Hendon Hooker, offensive tackle Michael Tarquin and outside linebacker Carlos ‘Boogie’ Basham,”

Rizzuti noted in a Tuesday, November 4 piece.

The Detroit Lions also made a move on Tuesday, although it wasn’t a flashy trade move. The team signed Jack Conley to their practice squad,

according to Tom Pelissero.

Conley is a rookie guard from Boston College and was most recently with the New England Patriots. Now, he’ll add depth to the Detroit Lions roster following

Christian Mahogany going down with a fractured ankle in Week 9. Now, the Detroit Lions will most likely call up Trystan Colon or Kingsley Eguakun to their active roster before their Week 10 game against the

Washington Commanders on Sunday, November 9.

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