Why the Los Angeles Lakers could suffer an early playoff exit: Even if healthy, they won’t have time to get back into rhythm as a cohesive unit
Even in a best-case scenario where the Lakers are fully healthy, there’s no telling whether this team will need added time to get back into a rhythm or to get back to playing at a championship level as a cohesive unit. Quite frankly, time is not something the Lakers will have at their disposal even if LeBron and Davis are back for the postseason.
When LeBron made his return from injury during his first season with the Lakers, he never looked like himself. I have to wonder if that’s something that could arise this season when LeBron makes his return to the lineup.
The hope is that it won’t be the case and that the Lakers are actually being patient with him and are going to take every bit of time they can before he returns to the lineup. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could be ready right now but is taking an extra couple of weeks to make sure he isn’t risking re-injury due to a premature return.
Hopefully, this team is able to pick up where they left off when they’re healthy. There is a chance that this team simply isn’t able to flip the switch that quickly, though. And we shouldn’t be surprised if that ends up playing out.