After his knee was slow to heal, Andrew Bynum is headed for arthroscopic surgery on his troublesome knee. Bynum, the 20-year-old center on the Los Angeles Lakers with untapped potential, missed most of the 2007-08 campaign after suffering a knee injury. Originally, it was believed he could return for the end of the regular season – however, that didn’t materialize.

While arthroscopic surgery is often minor, there’s also a chance that something much worse could be needed – microfracture surgery. Amare Stoudemire underwent a similar arthroscopic procedure, only to find that his knee required microfracture surgery. During Bynum’s surgery, if the doctors see a need for a microfracture procedure, they’ll like do it during the same surgery.

If Bynum does have microfracture surgery, he’ll all but certainly miss the entire 2008-09 season. Microfracture surgery usually requires at least one full year to heal – sometimes even longer.

However, if it’s just regular arthroscopic surgery, Bynum should be recovered in plenty of time for next season. No matter the outcome of the surgery, Bynum has been ruled out for the rest of these playoffs.

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Kobe Bryant injured his back in Game 4 against the Utah Jazz but has indicated that he’ll play in Game 5. Bryant was hurt in the first quarter of the game when taking a jump shot.

The back injury obviously limited Bryant in Game 4. The 2008 NBA MVP was 13-for-33 from the floor for the game. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Bryant was 2-for-13. The Los Angeles Lakers ended up losing to the Jazz in overtime and now stand at 2-2 in the best of seven series.

Although Bryant plans to play in Game 5, his effectiveness level won’t be known until after the game is underway. There’s a good chance that he’ll be close to 100% as the Game 4 injury could have just been isolated spasms. If Bryant isn’t 100%, the Lakers could be in jeopardy of losing a vital game in their series.

Injuries have been a season long story for the Lakers. Andrew Bynum is injured and will miss the rest of the playoffs. Trevor Ariza is also battling injury. Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol have been slowed at times due to injury.

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Andrew Bynum was originally expected to return to the Los Angeles Lakers this season. However, now not only is Bynum not going to return, it is sounding like he’ll need arthroscopic surgery in three or four weeks.

Bynum has been able to regain most of the movement in his troublesome knee, however he isn’t close to returning to the basketball court. Arthroscopic surgery may be done to go into his knee and see if there could be another problem.

Heading into the 2008-09 fantasy basketball season, it’ll be difficult to figure out Bynum’s value. He could go anywhere from the second round in a fantasy basketball draft, to perhaps the eighth or ninth round. He’ll definitely be high-risk, high-reward next season.

Injury will be the big concern. Not only does he have this injury to worry about, he also suffered a torn ACL while in high school. Mounting injury troubles for a 21-year-old center isn’t what you want on the resume of a high fantasy basketball pick.

In dynasty fantasy basketball leagues, Bynum is still a great player to have on your team. This season, he showed amazing potential before he got hurt. He’s a guy who could be a franchise level bigman in the NBA – and not too far down the road.

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Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers have held out hope that Andrew Bynum would return at some point during the 2008 NBA playoffs. However, now even Bynum is saying that he doesn’t see that happening.

“I doubt there’s going to be a comeback this year,” Bynum told the LA Times. “I’ve got to get my knee straight. At this point, I’d have to train for a good month just to be able to go out there and play.”

“It’s frustrating because I can do everything but what pertains to basketball — running and jumping, defensive slides.”

It’s officially safe to give up on Bynum returning this season. At first he was schedule to return at some point in April, however now it’s all but certain that he won’t be playing basketball against until next year’s training camp.

Bynum’s Lakers will play the Utah Jazz in the second round of the playoffs. Fantasy basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets, while the Jazz beat the Houston Rockets in six games. The Lakers won three of four games against the Jazz in the regular season.

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While there have been reports that Andrew Bynum could be out for the season, everyone close to the Los Angeles Lakers is adamant that Bynum is on track to return. The second week in March is being circled as Bynum’s probable return date.

Bynum, who is one of the best up-and-coming centers in the NBA, still is dealing with swelling and hasn’t worked out extensively yet. However, unless he suffers a setback, he should be ready to roll in about a month.

When he returns, Bynum’s role will be a little different. With new bigman Pau Gasol in the fold, Bynum likely won’t have to carry much offensive load right off the bat. He can concentrate on rebounding, blocked shots and scoring garbage points around the basket.

Bynum, before his injury, was one of the biggest fantasy surprises on the season. When he returns, he should continue to be a very good fantasy player. Any lost points should be made up in other areas.

Andrew Bynum Mix …