Andrew Bynum Will Miss the 1st Round of the Playoffs

Just when we thought Andrew Bynum would be back in the Lakers lineup and healthy enough to make somewhat of a contribution to the team he has now been ruled out of the Lakers 1st round playoff series with the Denver Nuggets.

Bummer!

Although Pau Gasol is playing some amazing basketball in Bynum's place, having the big kid back up the Spaniard or play alongside him and Kobe Bryant would have been fun to watch. The Lakers are not saying he will be out the entire playoffs, as of right now they are saying he will just miss the rest of the series against Denver, but the way things are going it seems to look like he won't return until next season.

The reason for Bynum's continued absence is that he is still feeling pain and some swelling in his injured left knee. Obviously with the Lakers playing the way there are there is no hurry to rush Bynum back on the floor where he could cause more damage to his fragile knee.

Even though I would love to see the Lakers at full strength, I believe the Lakers are making a smart decision and I guess we will have to just keep our fingers crossed for the 7 footer's return in the later rounds because the Lakers may be in desperate need of another big man against teams like Phoenix (Shaq, Amare) and San Antonio (Tim Duncan).