Lakers: LeBron James and Anthony Davis returning is only half the battle

Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers are patiently waiting to see the team’s two star players return to action. LeBron James is out with a high ankle sprain that will hold him out for 4-6 weeks in total while Anthony Davis has missed a month and a half with an Achilles injury.

James is most likely going to return at the end of April/beginning of May while the situation is still up in the air with Davis. Achilles injuries are no joke and we have seen that firsthand with Davis. He was progressing to return soon, however, the timeline keeps getting pushed back.

Frank Vogel said on March 26 that Davis is “still a way’s away,” although he continues to progress in the right direction. LeBron will undoubtedly be back before the NBA Playoffs as high ankle sprains are just something to rest off. At this point, nothing is guaranteed for Davis.

Getting LeBron James and Anthony Davis back is only half the battle for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers will be better off once the two star players return but that will not guarantee instant success for the Lakers. Every Lakers outlet, ourselves included, keep touting that the Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference once they are healthy.

While this is true, getting healthy is about more than just returning and playing basketball. Not only do the Lakers need to get LeBron and Davis back, but they better hope that they have enough time to start getting into playoff form.

LeBron will have around 10 games to get into playoff shape and start ramping up based on his current timeline. With Davis, we have no idea. It could be more than that and be 15-20 games, it could be right around the same or it could be less.

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Regardless, the best-case scenario for the Lakers is both guys returning and getting some time to play together and get ready for basketball that really matters. While LeBron and Davis have great chemistry with each other, there are a lot of new role players on this year’s team that were not on last year’s team.

And while the team did play together at the beginning of the season, it has been so long since then and the Lakers need to re-establish what the rotation will not only look like, but how these players can play off of each other.

This was the exact criticism I had of the Los Angeles Clippers last season. The Clippers’ best unit hardly played together due to injuries and a lot of load management. When you get to the playoffs you begin to split hairs and something as simple as on-court chemistry and nailing the rotation can swing a playoff series.

And it did for the Clippers. They blew a 3-1 lead in which they had multiple big leads as the players could not play well with each other and Doc Rivers could not figure out the rotation. The Lakers want to avoid that at all costs.

We also have to consider the situation. LeBron James is 36 years old and he might not be a full-go after returning from arguably the most serious injury of his carer. Davis does not have to worry about age, but Achilles injuries are extremely testy and he is going to naturally be favoring that Achilles once he returns and won’t be going full speed ahead right out of the gate.

There is a good chance that both players return and are 75-80% of their normal selves and have to work their way up to 100%. If they do not get enough of a runway before the NBA Playoffs it could be a huge issue. A 75-80% version of LeBron and Davis could lose to a team like the Denver Nuggets.