The Lakers have struggled to have any players available lately.

Austin Reaves has missed the last five games due to a left pelvic bruise following a bad fall against the Thunder. LeBron James sat out Sunday’s game against the Blazers with left foot soreness and is “unlikely” to play Friday against the Wolves.

In addition, the trio of Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt also spent different lengths of time this season. After practice on Wednesday, JJ gave Redick an update on the very lengthy injury report, starting with Austin Reaves.

Reaves on the way?

Reaves had to deal with his injury, but also left the Lakers’ road trip early to receive treatment for his injury.

“I wouldn’t call Austin a full participant (in practice),” Redick said. “There was one thing he turned down that we suggested and (Director of Player Performance) Leroy (Sims) agreed with us, probably not good for him. Due to the nature of the exercise, it was particularly a physical exercise in which only pain tolerance should be taken into account.

“But he fully participated in all the live five-on-five events and all the breakdown drills.”

This Reaves update definitely sounds positive. With at least 48 hours between the Lakers’ practice on Wednesday and the team’s game at Minnesota on Friday, it’s likely he will return this weekend.

Hayes’ ankle sprain remains a concern

Hayes was the luckiest with his left ankle sprain. He initially injured himself in mid-November and missed two weeks of action. He returned to the original schedule the Lakers had scheduled for him, a rarity, but sprained it again in his first game against the Suns on November 26.

It was reported that he would be out for another two to three weeks, and Redick’s recent comments regarding his status suggest he will need at least the full three weeks before returning.

“No update on Jaxson (Hayes). His projected return date is in flux,” Redick said. “So if we have something, we’ll give it to you.”

The Lakers need to be careful with Hayes’ ankle. He’s sustained two injuries, so the last thing you want to do is push him back and cause more damage.

Still, it hurts the team as the only current backup sizes are two-way players Christian Koloko and Armel Traore. It’s hard to beat teams as undermanned as the Lakers are in the frontcourt, and with Hayes out, the team struggled to go 7-6 in those games.

At the moment it looks like they have to reckon with the sentence “in the river” means Hayes will stay out until we hear otherwise.

Don’t hold your breath for Wood or Vando

This is another non-update for Wood and Vando, as neither appears to be close to a return and have yet to play a single game for the Lakers this season.

At the end of the above quote about Hayes, Redick added, “Same goes for Christian (Wood) and Vando.”

Wood’s injury odyssey is a long one. He had knee surgery over the summer and suffered a setback in his rehab. He’s now past the four-week re-evaluation period last mentioned by the Lakers.

Prior to these comments from Redick, the last news of Vanderbilt’s status came on Dec. 3, when the team said he had suffered a setback in rehab and was targeting an early January return.

This news doesn’t necessarily raise any ambiguity about that timeline, but I would bet my superiors will make sure it doesn’t happen. (Editor’s note: I did not agree with this).

He also doesn’t train during the training portion that the media is allowed to see. It feels unlikely He would go from no visible work on the pitch to games in early January when we are already mid-December.

From a fan’s perspective, Wood and Vando are players not to be seen and forgotten. The Lakers have proven over the years that when they play this far into the future, you should stop waiting for them to take control.

The best news is that Reaves is improving and Hayes is a wait-and-see game. We’ll see if that’s enough to win games between now and December.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.