Update: Bynum (knee) is slightly behind the eight-week prognosis that he was orignially given, and is targeting a return in late March, according to the Los Angeles Times. Recommendation: An eight-week return would have had Bynum running by now, but at this point, Bynum is not even at the stage where he's testing the knee in a rehabilitation pool. He will test the knee in water on Thursday and doctors will make a determination from there. Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=roto...mp;type=fantasy
Bynum update: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Andrew Bynum said he hoped to begin running in a swimming pool later this week, the latest step in his rehabilitation from a left knee injury that has sidelined him for more than five weeks. The swelling is out of his knee and he has not had any setbacks in his recovery, although he will not return at the beginning of the timetable established by the Lakers of "at least eight weeks" from the time of the injury. Bynum theoretically would have to be on the practice court next week if he were to return exactly at the eight-week mark of March 10. A return at an unspecified date later in March was more reasonable, a team official said. Bynum has been working out on elliptical machines and sharpening his balance by stepping on and off exercise blocks. "I'm feeling good, getting better, the swelling has gone down and I can walk around," Bynum said Tuesday. "Hopefully this Thursday I can get in the pool." If that goes well, he would soon transition into running on a treadmill and building the muscles in his left leg. Bynum sustained a bone bruise in his knee and a partial dislocation of his kneecap in a mid-January game against Memphis. He wasn't certain when he would finally return to the court though. "I'm not sure," he said. "Everything will be determined by this Thursday, really. If I'm able to run in the pool with no pain, then we'll start building my leg up more and more. I'm making progress and I'm excited to actually run in the pool, but I'm still not back." Bynum, averaging 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds, said he was eager to play with Pau Gasol and envisioned a scenario in which the two of them feed off each other. "I think we definitely will," Bynum said. "He likes to play outside and likes to shoot mid-range jump shots. We can pass back and forth to each other. We've got a nice 'twin tower' effect going on defense."</div> http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/n...1,2636611.story I'm guessing he'll be back by the end of March or early April. It's kind of disappointing, but he needs to take as much time as it takes for him to get completely healthy. Even if he returns around April, we still have a couple more regular season games to play, so hopefully he'll break off the rust then. He should be back a couple games before the playoffs, or at least that's what I'm expecting.
I think it's perfectly fine to ease him back. With Gasol coming in, his lacking presence isn't hurting us nearly as much as it was pre-Gasol. I think, as long as we're playing well, give him all the time our training staff thinks he needs.
