It was announced that Bynum underwent the knife today. This is Bynum's third knee operation in the last 3 years. The Lakers expect Bynum to participate in training camp, though he may not be 100% recovered.The Breakdown
Much like Yao Ming, Andrew Bynum is a high risk/high reward big man. Bynum has really blossomed in his last 3 seasons, which is one of the reasons the Lakers have been to the finals 3 consecutive years. Last year, he finished with averages of 15 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks, while shooting 57% from the field. Considering how deep the Lakers are, these numbers are very impressive.
The problem has been that he's missed an average of 32 games over the last 3 years. I currently have Bynum ranked #83, which I feel is a good spot to gamble on him. If you take a chance on Bynum and he's able to stay healthy, there are only a handful of centers that I'd prefer over him. A healthy Bynum drafted that late is a steal, much like Andrew Bogut was last season. But with so many operations on his knees, I'm just not confident his legs can handle a full 82 game season.
When it comes to injured players, I won't hold it against them the first time they're injured. But when a player consistently suffers injuries year after year (i.e. Yao Ming, Greg Oden, etc.), I'll wait to see if they slip another round or two from where I have them ranked before drafting them. The later I get them, the less the risk I'm taking. I will always take a somewhat lesser player who can give me 75 games over a better player who could only play 50 games. With that said, Bynum is a good pick in the mid-80s but if a durable center who was a slight downgrade was available, like Emeka Okafor, I would go with the more durable player. 3 surgeries in 3 seasons is just something that really worries me.
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