Without LeBron, can the Los Angeles Lakers reach the Playoffs with the current roster?

As soon as the news of LeBron James' injury appeared, the belief of many Lakers fans about a Playoffs or play-in ticket was no longer as high as before. The team's medical team has confirmed James is out for at least 3 weeks. In the most positive case, the "king" will return at the end of March.

The Lakers were initially quite ambitious, aiming to be in the top 6 of the best performing teams in the West. This is for the purpose of avoiding the play-in round completely and guaranteeing a place in the Playoffs.

But after James' injury, the level of feasibility of this goal is still quite low. The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in 11th place, 1 game away from the play-in group, 3 games from the Playoffs (6th place) and a total of 18 more appearances from now until the end of the Regular Season.

However, this does not mean that the door to the Los Angeles Lakers' Playoffs is completely closed. After the NBA Trade Deadline ended, the Lakers' roster has improved in many positions.

Will this change help improve the team's ability to enter the top 10 to set foot in the Playoffs? Here are the ESPN expert's analysis, including the positive and negative aspects.

Before losing to the Timberwolves on March 4, the Los Angeles Lakers overcame the Oklahoma City Thunder (the team was in direct competition for play-in tickets). This is a victory despite the Lakers' absence of both LeBron James and Anthony Davis, a result largely contributed by the additions at Trade Deadline.

Excluding D'Angelo Russell, who was also injured and had to sit out, the rookie quartet including Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba and Rui Hachimura became the mainstay.

They performed well enough for coach Darvin Ham to keep these 4 names on the field as long as possible, even he had to reduce the minutes of Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV.

The Lakers have only won 1 game in 5 appearances this season without both Anthony Davis and LeBron James. But then they won again in the past week thanks to the shine of new players.

This is a very positive sign for Los Angeles Lakers fans, especially when each rookie has contributed well to the team in many different aspects, for example Beasley and Mo Bamba long throw, while Vanderbilt and Hachimura support the room. impressive player.

In the coming days when D'Angelo Russell returns, the Lakers lineup will be even more complete and diverse, especially in the PG position when currently only Dennis Schroder has to shoulder the burden.

If beating the OKC Thunder is a sign that the Lakers are capable of playing well thanks to the additions from the transfer market, Wednesday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies despite Anthony Davis' outstanding performance showed that the LA team there is no room for error.

The positive thing is that in the near future, teachers and coaches Darvin Ham will have the most breathing schedule in the entire NBA according to ESPN's in-depth statistics. Besides, 11 of the total 18 Lakers Regular Season final games will take place at home.

However, the bad news for Lakers fans is that the hardest part of the remaining easy series will take place around the time LeBron James takes a break.

In the immediate future, the LA team is 6 games with opponents with a better winning record than them, including the match against the Golden State Warriors and the rematch with Memphis. Interspersed in it is an opponent that the Lakers are forced to win, which is the Pelicans, the team that is competing directly with them for the play-in spot.

The schedule will be easier to breathe in mid-March, where the Lakers only meet 2 teams in the top 10 in 7 games. Five of these take place on the Crypto.com house. This is the time when Anthony Davis and his teammates must strive to win with a rate of 60-70%.

By the end of the month, LeBron James can return in the match against the Chicago Bulls on March 28 and January 31. Since these two games, the Lakers will play 6 more times to end the Regular Season, meeting the Timberwolves, Rockets, Jazz, Clippers, Suns and Jazz.

The realistic goal is that the Los Angeles Lakers need to win at least 50% of the games while LeBron James recuperates, then try to end the Regular Season in the best way to make it to the play-in group.

In case the Lakers sublimate and win over 70% of the games in March, they can raise their hopes of rising to the Playoffs group.