Returning superstar may have just ended Lakers playoff chances

The Los Angeles Lakers have been playing horrible basketball and essentially locked themselves into the NBA Play-In Tournament (although they can still fall below the play-in if they continue to play as they have been recently).

The ninth-seeded Lakers have not won a single game after the All-Star Break and now the gap to the sixth-seeded Denver Nuggets — to get out of the play-in — is 9.5 games. With 20 games remaining, it is essentially a guarantee that the Lakers will not be a top-six team in the West.

Most fans have already given up on the season and rightfully so. LA has shown nothing this season to tell us that they can win two do-or-die games in a row. However, with LeBron James and a returning Anthony Davis, there is at least some hope. They will have the most star power of any play-in team and star power wins titles.

That potential hope may have just been axed, though, as it was reported on Saturday that Zion Williamson is heading back to New Orleans and is expected to rejoin the Pelicans next week. He still has more rehab to do but this was a big step and now it is not out of the question to see Zion this year.

If Zion Williamson does return to the court then the Los Angeles Lakers playoff chances are dead.

It is unlikely that the Lakers are even going to be able to get up to the eighth seed in order to have two chances to just win one game. The purple and gold are 5.5 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the eighth seed in the conference and it would be legitimately shocking if the Lakers caught them.

In fact, the Pelicans are closer in the standings as they are only .5 games behind the Lakers and have won four straight. There is a chance that LA could be playing the first play-in game on the road in New Orleans.

Los Angeles was just recently blown out by the Pelicans in embarrassing fashion. New Orleans is playing much better basketball in recent weeks and with the way the Lakers are playing, it feels far-fetched to assume they can beat the Pelicans as is.

Anthony Davis returning will help but Zion Williamson helps neutralize that impact. With how AD has played this season, are we really sure he would be as big of an improvement for LA as Zion would be for New Orleans? The Lakers’ numbers were better without AD than with him when he got hurt again.

Zion Williamson potentially returning to action this season might not mean much to those fans that have rightfully lost hope. But for some, it could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.