LeBron James is still likely a week or two away from returning from injury but when could he make his official return for the Los Angeles Lakers?
With just 14 games left in the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t have much room for error. And to make it all difficult, LeBron James remains out with a foot injury. At the moment, the Lakers are ninth in the Western Conference standings but just 2.5 games back of the fifth seed.
In short, everything is on the table from the Lakers being the fifth seed to the team completely missing out on the Play-In Tournament. The next few weeks will be extremely important for a team that is looking to defy the odds and make a deep playoff run. But in order to even have a chance to accomplish that, not only are they going to have to qualify for the playoffs but they’re going to have to get healthy.
And that includes LeBron.
The good news is that LeBron is making progress but remains roughly 7-10 days away from being reevaluated (the initial report was that would happen after three weeks). The question is, when could/will we see LeBron back in the Lakers’ lineup?
Predicting when LeBron James could make his return from injury
This is where it gets a bit murky. The original report said LeBron would be reevaluated in three weeks. That means he will be reevaluated by the team on March 23 or 24. But that just means he will be reevaluated at that point. That doesn’t mean he will return at that point.
To be safe, for the sake of making a prediction, let’s say LeBron rests another week to try to get right. Maybe that’s a combination of slowly making his way back on the practice floor while also resting and rehabbing.
But at that point in the schedule, the Lakers will be in the midst of a five-game road trip. Would LeBron return during the middle of a road trip? He might have to, depending on where the Lakers are in the standings. Looking at their schedule, I believe a good soft spot for LeBron’s return could be on the road against the Houston Rockets on April 2. That gives LeBron a conservative additional week and a half after being reevaluated next week.
And maybe if the Lakers can hold on to one of the final few spots in the Play-In Tournament, perhaps LeBron waits to return until the team returns from their road trip. Though, I’d have to imagine you want LeBron back before the final two games of the season, heading into the playoffs.
The great news for the Lakers is that they have the easiest remaining schedule in the league. And if they can get a healthy LeBron back for the playoffs, perhaps they could be a dangerous underdog in the postseason.