LeBron James, Dennis Schröder, Thomas Bryant Could Return as the Lakers Hit a Crucial Stretch

The journey of 1,000 miles, otherwise known as "Operation Get Back to .500" begins with one step. That's tonight, as the Lakers play a promising-but-not-yet-good Detroit Pistons team at the Crypt. They'll have reinforcements, with Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant likely joining the lineup, and more importantly, with LeBron James a real possibility to suit up. He was a full participant in Thursday's practice for the Lakers - albeit a non-contact practice for all involved - and Darvin Ham said James was running and jumping, looking "great."

So if LeBron can play, the Lakers really have no excuse to drop a game to the lowly Pistons, right? And they really should beat a San Antonio squad rapidly coming back to earth after a quick start, right? They can't get back to .500 in a day or a week or even a month, likely. This is a project. And while technically, it doesn't matter which teams they beat en route to a return to contention, it sure is easier if you beat the bad teams.

Plus, vibes. They are very bad after losing to Detroit.

Meanwhile, he's not winning the race right now, but where does Russell Westbrook rank in the Sixth Man of the Year competition? What would it take for him to have a real shot at taking home the hardware? Certainly the storyline is compelling, but what else has to happen?

Finally, our friend Darius Soriano wrote a great story for SilverScreenandRoll about the Lakers draft capital, how people tend to describe it inaccurately, and why that matters. It led to a fun Twitter conversation, which leads to a fun podcast conversation.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: LeBron is back, maybe! Either way, the Lakers need to win tonight.

SEGMENT 2: Could Westbrook become a legit Sixth Man candidate?

SEGMENT 3: What the Lakers really have going forward in the Draft.

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