The Los Angeles Lakers have had NBA playoff success despite being without two of their key players in Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic. With Reaves’ return to the court, all eyes are on Doncic’s injury status, but things look a bit more grim for the Lakers star.
Heading into Game 5 against the Houston Rockets, the Lakers are one win away from advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs to face the Oklahoma City Thunder. While the team’s focus is on closing out the Rockets, it is natural for fans to wonder if Doncic will be available to play in the next round for a potential Lakers-Thunder playoff series.
The Lakers have not revealed an exact return timeline for Doncic, but the team’s public comments about the star’s injury indicate a longer recovery timeline ahead. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Doncic is not expected to play against the Thunder if the Lakers are able to advance.
“My understanding is it is a slow path on the recovery front for Luka,” Charania explained during an April 28, 2026, edition of “SportsCenter.” “The expectation is if the Lakers are able to beat Houston and advance, Luka Doncic will be out for the next series.
“There’s still no timetable for him as of right now. He’s starting to do more court movement as JJ Redick said the other day, but he is not at the point where he’s progressing in his on-court workouts as far as one-on-ones and truly pushing it on a movement front.”
Here’s what you need to know about Doncic’s injury.
Lakers HC JJ Redick on Luka Doncic’s Injury Recovery: ‘Most of the Stuff Had Been (at a) Standstill’
Lakers head coach JJ Redick continues to emphasize that there is no return timeline for Doncic. It does not sound like Doncic is close to returning based on his limited work in practice.
“Yeah, he just continues to kind of do some stuff on the court, was able to move a little bit today on the court, which, you know, most of the stuff had been standstill,” Redick told reporters on April 26. “So he’s progressing, but no update on on any timeline or anything like that.”
Sports medicine expert Dr. Jesse Morse estimated that Doncic could still be two weeks away from returning to play. If the reported timeline is true, the Lakers will likely need to advance to the Western Conference Finals for Doncic to have a chance of returning this season.
“Sounds like Luka Doncic is about 10-14 days away from returning to the court,” Morse detailed in an April 26, message on X.
Lakers Star Luka Doncic Is Behind Austin Reaves’ Injury Return Timeline
Doncic has not played since April 2 as the star has been sidelined with a hamstring injury. It not all bad news for Los Angeels with Reaves returning to the court.
“Basically the message from that day forward was that they were going to do everything as a team to give us an opportunity to come back and play, and they’ve done exactly what they said,” Reaves said of the Lakers’ efforts to get the two stars back on the court, per NBA.com.
For now, the Lakers first need to advance to the next round of the NBA playoffs for Doncic’s status to remain relevant.
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