Lakers get positive news on LeBron James' return
If the Lakers make the playoffs, they may have a chance for a deep run with LeBron James, who has missed the team's past 11 games with an injury.
On Sunday, Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported that Lakers coach Darvin Ham offered his most optimistic and definitive update yet on James. The coach didn't specify if James would return for the regular season or not.
Things had been relatively quiet on the James front, so this is great news — vague though it is — for Los Angeles (35-37).
In James' absence, the Lakers have gone 6-5 and developed chemistry with D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley — the players acquired from Utah in the deal for Russell Westbrook.
Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Dennis Schroder, Russell and Beasley have scored 24 or more points in a game during James’ absence. Even when Davis, the Lakers' No. 2 star, doesn't go off, the Lakers have players who can step up.
In Sunday's night win over Orlando, Reaves — an undrafted player — scored a career-high 35 points.
"I think Bron, him being out has revealed that we have a lot of different weapons that are very capable players on both sides of the ball that can help us achieve the goal that we're trying to achieve," Ham said, per ESPN. "And when he comes back, he's just going to add to it."
The Lakers are in 10th place, which would get them in the play-in tournament, but only one game out of seventh and 1.5 games out of sixth place.
With multiple games against the Chicago Bulls (33-37) and Utah Jazz (34-36), the Lakers have a favorable schedule to improve their playoff positioning.
If they get James back soon, a team that is developing chemistry could be dangerous in the postseason.
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