ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on a Possible Timeline for Luka’s Lakers Return

Brian Windhorst's read on Luka Doncic was the most actionable piece of NBA insider work he gave Rich on Tuesday.

The Lakers list Luka as out. That, Windhorst said, is technically the only confirmed information available. But everything else about how the team has handled him pushes the timeline further out than fans want to hear.

Windhorst started with the simple test. When Austin Reaves was building back from his earlier injury, the team gave incremental updates on his ramp. Reconditioning. Light work. More work. The cadence of those updates is how informed reporters know where a player actually is.

For Luka, that cadence has not started.

"I don't think Luka has begun reconditioning yet," Windhorst said. "When you're out a month, you have a procedure you have to build back up to."

The harder tell, Windhorst said, was the Spain trip.

"When Luka got hurt, they sent Luka to Spain for treatment," he told Rich. "Have you ever heard of someone, I mean, I've heard of going to Germany. I've never heard of going to Spain."

He acknowledged Doncic has a newborn in Slovenia and lives in Madrid in the off-season, so a trip overseas is not strange in itself. But the fact that the Lakers signed off on it during a playoff push is the actions-over-words read.

"That was not an indication of a minor hamstring injury," Windhorst said. "That was like, you're not going to be doing anything for a few weeks anyway, so go ahead and go to Europe."

Asked the timeline, Windhorst pointed to the published diagnosis. The Lakers announced a Grade 2 hamstring strain. That is four to six weeks. It has been four. Six weeks puts the return at maybe the end of the playoffs.

The Lakers, Windhorst said, are now in wait-and-see mode. If they get walloped in the first two games at Oklahoma City, that informs the process. If they split or look like they have a formula, that informs the process too.

"I've watched guys come back early from hamstring injuries and no bueno," Windhorst said.