Shaq’s Return Bad News for Someone

The first decision today will be the doctors’. They will decide if Shaquille O’Neal is ready to play again.

The next decision will be the Lakers’. They have to decide who, most likely, doesn’t make the postseason roster, and, maybe, whose career here is over.

Barring another injury, the transaction that goes along with O’Neal’s being activated will set the 12-man squad for the rest of the way. And, unlike most teams, whoever gets the short straw by being put on the injured list or waived will also be a player the Lakers think can still contribute and would probably have made the playoff roster last season.

Of course, they also didn’t expect George McCloud to shoot 35.4% in 23 games after acquiring him at the trade deadline. He was supposed to be another three-point threat who would make defenses pay for double-teaming O’Neal inside, not the odds-on favorite to get the bad news when Shaq gets the good news.

The Lakers got him for the playoffs, and beyond. Now, he may not make it to the end of April. In July, McCloud becomes a free agent.

Sean Rooks, averaging the fewest minutes on the team, is safe. For that, even if means going back to the end of the bench as third-string center, he can thank his performance of the last five games, and his genes.

“We believe that you can’t have too many big guys,” Coach Del Harris said, officially removing Rooks from the endangered species list. “That’s been proven. That’s an NBA adage you can live by.”

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The Lakers had set a team record by holding eight consecutive opponents below 100 points before Utah got 101 on Thursday. Still, they’ve already established another Los Angeles-era mark with 48 games of sub-100 defense, with five games remaining.