The Lakers will be without back up small forward Luke Walton for the next 6 weeks due to a pinched nerve in his back. Walton has played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Lakers so far this season and he is averaging 10.6 minutes, 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. The Lakers won’t miss him too much as his injury will just open up more minutes for Shannon Brown who is off to a good start this year.

With Pau Gasol out for a few games to start the season due to a hamstring injury the Lakers have inserted Lamar Odom into the starting lineup at power forward. He has started 3 games so far this season for the Lakers and he has averaged 12.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot in 39.3 minutes per game. The depth of the Lakers has been damaged due to Gasol’s injury but at least they have a player the quality of Lamar Odom to pitch in.

Reserve small forward/shooting guard Trevor Ariza will miss at least the next 8 weeks with a broken bone in his right foot. Ariza has played in 24 games (3 starts) this season with the Lakers and he is averaging 18.0 minutes, 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Ariza has shot well for the Lakers since coming over from the Magic as he’s hitting 52.4% of his shots from the floor.

The Lakers will be without starting center Andrew Bynum for at least the next 8 weeks due to a dislocated kneecap. This will hurt the Lakers big time as Bynum has been really playing well this season. Bynum has played in 35 games so far this season and he’s averaging 28.8 minutes, 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.1 blocks per game. Kwame Brown and Ronny Turiaf will pick up the minutes to replace Bynum. Brown has played in 15 games so far this season and he is averaging 19.2 minutes, 4.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. But, Brown has been a bust so far in his NBA career so the Lakers will likely suffer a huge dropoff in production from the center position. Ronny Turiaf is a hustling player that always gives his all but he has physical limitations in playing center. Turiaf has played in 32 games so far this season and he’s averaging 16.2 minutes, 6.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

The Lakers have lost cener Chris Mihm for the next 3-4 weeks with a sore Achilles. He has played in 19 games (5 starts) this season and he is averaging 13.3 minutes, 4.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He is only shooting 36.9% from the floor and 64% from the free throw line so far this season. The Lakers will just have to give Andrew Bynum more playing time now and that should be a good thing for them.