"Walmart Kevin Love" - Lakers fans hyped as optimism around $33,000,000 center's shocking pre-playoffs return increases

The LA Lakers have been relatively healthy over the past month. The only player who has been constantly on their injury report over that stretch is Maxi Kleber. Now in the second year of his $33,000,000 three-year contract, Kleber is recovering from a right foot surgery. He's yet to debut for the team after joining the Lakers in the massive trade that sent Luka Doncic to LA with Markieff Morris.

Kleber was originally expected to miss the entire regular season. But the latest report from Lakers insider Jovan Buha indicates optimism around Kleber returning before the playoffs. It would significantly boost the Lakers' frontcourt size as they are only relying on one center at the moment in Jaxson Hayes.

LA has played a lot of small ball this year. While it has worked, the defensive schemes for the Lakers have caused massive fatigue. They saw Hachimura go down with a left knee injury on Thursday and Austin Reaves with a sore calf on Friday. The Lakers are banged up, and those issues could be worse come April, especially if they can't get reliable contributions from their reserve centers.

6-foot-10 Maxi Kleber would help resolve those issues. He's an excellent interior defender and a floor-spacing big who has been one of Luka Doncic's favorite pick-and-roll/pop partners in Dallas since his debut.

Lakers fans were hyped after Buha's report on Kleber surfaced online on Saturday. Here's what one fan wrote:

"Walmart Kevin love. Walk w me"

The fan insinuated that Kleber has the same skills as LeBron James' former teammate, Kevin Love. However, he's a lesser talented version of the former All-Star big.

Meanwhile, another fan said:

"Shooting and size off the bench that’d be really nice for us"

Another added:

"He is decent defensive stretch 5 which will actually real help in the offs"

One fan tweeted:

Another said:

"If we get Maxi back oh my …."

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Lakers nuclear on defense despite boasting only one rotational big

The LA Lakers have been nuclear defensively over the past month and a half. Since Jan. 14, LA has been No. 1 on defense with a 107.3 rating. Over the past six games, the Lakers have allowed only 100.8 points a night. Since obtaining this defensive identity, they are 5-1 in that stretch and 17-4. They have been without Anthony Davis for 14 games, who was shipped to the Mavericks on Feb. 1.

Davis was their best player on that end, and not many expected the Lakers to survive his absence after the Luka Doncic trade. The Mark Williams trade falling apart was also a tough blow for LA, leaving the team with only Jaxson Hayes as their most reliable center.

Maxi Kleber is also on the team but on the sidelines, forcing the Lakers to play small. Nevertheless, JJ Redick has figured out the schemes to negate that issue, and LA's size on the perimeter has been equally important in helping the team stay afloat.