Do the Lakers have to start factoring LeBron James missing time into their roster building?

Since he’s come into the league, LeBron James has been the tide that lifts all ships around him. When healthy, that has remained the case, but this is now three of the last four seasons where he has missed a considerable chunk of games, and that’s before we see how long this most recent tweak keeps him out.

So, if this is the norm rather than a few outliers, do the Lakers have to go about building around him differently? It’s a tough question to ask, and certainly not one that any fans or people within the organization want to consider, but the evidence is kind of starting to mount that all these miles might be catching up to him.

Honestly though, this is quite the bummer, so let’s start with more exciting news: This week on “The Anthony Irwin Show,” I was joined by Raj Chipalu (@UnwrittenRul3s on Twitter) to discuss this and, more importantly, introduce him as the latest addition to the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast Team.

As “reported” earlier today, Raj will be joining Sabreena Merchant on “I Love Basketball,” which airs every Wednesday. Both Sabreena and Raj are a couple of the most thorough and informed basketball minds analyzing this team right now, so I can guarantee the show is going to be smart. Add to that their different perspectives and the combination will also be legitimately entertaining. Plus, basketball comps.

Once we discussed the way he approaches analyzing this team, we dove into the topic of building a team around a potentially part-time LeBron, and how a roster built around that concept would even look. Is doing so even possible? Or have the Lakers made their bed in this respect, and how do they have to figure this out — especially now that it seems moving Russell Westbrook is simply out of the question.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.