The Los Angeles Lakers are heading into the 2025 NBA Playoffs with high hopes. The No. 3 seed will have home-court advantage in the first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves after finishing the regular season with a 50-32 record. The team is also luckily almost fully healthy, naming their 15-man Playoff squad yesterday.
The only injured players in their Playoff 15 is Maxi Kleber, who joined the team in the Luka Doncic trade and hasn't played a single game for the Lakers. Lakers coach JJ Redick revealed Kleber is back to practicing on-court, but still has no timetable on a return.
"JJ Redick said Maxi Kleber has begun on-court activity with the group but there is still no timetable for his return. The Lakers did conditioning and shooting drills today — no live action — and Kleber was a full participant."
Kleber underwent foot surgery on January 30 while still on the Dallas Mavericks, being traded a day later to the Lakers with two years and $22 million on his contract. He's struggled to stay healthy over recent seasons, playing 114 games out of a total 246 games over the last four seasons.
When healthy, Kleber can be an impactful but not very productive player. He was averaging 3.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists this season with the Mavericks. His box score impact was minimal, but Kleber provided Mavs head coach Jason Kidd with a lot of optionality in his lineups, as Kleber is a great option for a small-ball lineup.
He's a seven-footer with great mobility on the perimeter and can stretch the floor. The end of his Mavericks tenure was highlighted by him losing minutes to younger centers like Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, but still staying in the rotation as a power forward or for specific matchups as a center.
Luka is extremely comfortable playing alongside Kleber, with the pair being teammates since the day Doncic was drafted in 2018. Hopefully, Doncic's presence and playmaking help Kleber get a fast start on his offense whenever he's healthy, as the Lakers need a big man like Kleber to have optionality at the thinnest position in their rotation.
