LeBron James reportedly will miss 4-6 weeks, while Anthony Davis could be back in 2 weeks

The Los Angeles Lakers will get a little closer to having a whole roster when Marc Gasol makes his return to the lineup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night, but it sounds like they’re still a few weeks away from having their two star forwards — LeBron James and Anthony Davis — available.

According to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic on Thursday, Davis could be out another two weeks with Achilles tendinosis, while James is expected to miss at least another month with a high ankle sprain:

“Anthony Davis, you’re looking at two weeks away-ish, I’m told, and LeBron James — from the time he got hurt last week — has an expected four-to-six week recovery period, sources tell me.”

When it comes to James, this report supports the rumor from earlier this week that Lakers players were telling people James could be out for a month. However, it also takes into account that James may need some time get his wind back under him even when is cleared to resume basketball activities. James suffered his high ankle sprain on March 21.

As for Davis, he’s expected to be re-evaluated tomorrow, which is two weeks from the day he was last evaluated. Davis has missed the last 16 games for the Lakers has already been ruled out their game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.

It’s possible that Davis hears good new from the Lakers’ medical staff, but this report and the report from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports on March 15, which stated that he could miss more than three weeks, suggests that he’s not that close to returning.

The good news for the Lakers is that once James and Davis are healthy, they’ll have no problem winning games, assuming both of them look as good or better than they did before they were injured. The bad news is that they don’t have the talent win many games without them, and the trade deadline didn’t change that, as they didn’t make any moves.

Brighter days may be ahead for the Lakers, but the light at the end of the tunnel is still just a glimmer. Hopefully that changes in the weeks to come.

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