The injury-riddled Los Angeles Lakers have had to get creative with their roster construction recently.

LeBron James (groin), Rui Hachimura (knee), and Maxi Kleber (foot) are all rehabbing, and even two-way contract center Trey Jemison III (illness) missed Monday’s matchup with the San Antonio Spurs.

Los Angeles is depending more on role players in the meantime, such as Jaxson Hayes and Dalton Knecht.

Hayes notched 19 points (8-10 FG) with six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block in 29 minutes in Sunday’s 107-96 win over the Phoenix Suns, and Knecht tallied 32 points (13-27 FG, 5-13 3 PT) in 37 minutes in Friday’s 131-126 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

However, two-way players such as Jemison and Jordan Goodwin have also contributed.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Goodwin (30) Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Goodwin scored 10 points (4-8 FG, 2-3 3 PT) with six rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal in 34 minutes against the Nuggets as well as 17 points (6-8 FG, 5-6 3 PT) with eight boards and one steal in the 111-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on March 10.

That’s why it may be disappointing for Lakers fans that head coach JJ Redick won’t guarantee him a long-term roster spot, via So Cal News Group’s Khobi Price.

“It’s very complicated because he’s really earned the trust of the coaching staff. But this is unfortunately the nature of the two-way contracts and having a full roster,” the Lakers head coach said.

“So again, it’s something, similar to Trey, we’re just gonna manage.

I think with guys being out, we can’t really afford to have him out of the rotation right now and then we’ll see as we get healthy.”

Per @khobi_price, Jordan Goodwin only has around 7 games left on his two-way contract, so he asked JJ Redick how they will manage that considering he is part of the rotation: “It’s very complicated because he’s really earned the trust of the coaching staff.

But this is… — Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) March 18, 2025 Goodwin started against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.

Meanwhile, Jemison had a season-high seven points (3-4 FG) with four rebounds in 13 minutes in the 113-109 overtime win against the New York Knicks on March 6.