Lakers' Dennis Schröder suggests LeBron James 'close' to returning: 'We can't wait for him to get back'

Despite Schröder's claim, the team has maintained that James is out indefinitely

The Los Angeles Lakers have been without All-Star forward LeBron James since he suffered a high-ankle sprain on March 20. While updates on his status and a potential return date have been few and far between to this point, one of his teammates offered up an opinion on when James could be back in the lineup following the team's victory over the Orlando Magic Monday night.

"I mean, he's close," Dennis Schröder said, per The Athletic. "I can tell you that much. We're ready. We can't wait for him to get back to help us win games again and be together at the right time. Eleven games in and get to work."

With James sidelined, Schröder has seen his usage rate increase more than perhaps any other player on the Lakers roster. In addition to having the ball in his hands for larger portions of the game than he would with LeBron in the lineup, Schröder is averaging more points (17.4), shot attempts (13.8) and minutes (33.6) per game during this stretch where James has been forced to be a spectator as the Lakers have gone 8-12 in the games he has missed.

James' absence has had an impact on the team as a whole, as it is clear that the Lakers miss having their leader on the floor. In the time since LeBron injured his ankle, the Lakers are averaging over seven points less per game (111.9 pre-injury to 104.3 post-injury), their shooting percentage as a team has dipped from 48.4 percent to 44.9 percent, they are pulling down three fewer rebounds per game (45.5 pre-injury to 42.5 post-injury) and, perhaps most importantly, they are not taking care of the ball as well as Los Angeles has averaged more turnovers and fewer assists per game over their last 20.

Obviously, once James returns, things will change for Schröder when it comes to his role on the offensive end of the floor. He will not be handling the ball as much as he has during this stretch with LeBron out of the lineup and, most likely, his field goal attempts per game will take a dip as well. Despite that being the case, Lakers forward Anthony Davis is of the opinion that Schröder will have to be one of their key contributors down the stretch, and maintain the aggressiveness he has displayed over the past month if this team wants to repeat as NBA champions.

"We need him to be the same Dennis," Davis said. "He's making the right reads, he making great plays, he's finishing, shooting the ball. We need him to do the same thing. We don't want him to kind of fall back when Bron comes back, even though Bron does handle the ball a lot. We still want him to push the pace and get in the paint, attacking, finding seams, finding guys for open shots, making those right passes and those right plays.

"That's what we're going to need from him in order for us to win the championship."

No one can predict what the future will hold for the Lakers or any other team vying for the Larry O'Brien trophy but Davis is certainly right about one thing. The Lakers will need more than just a healthy LeBron James in order to navigate the Western Conference playoff race, and the aggressive play we have seen from Schröder in James' absence will only boost their chances of competing for another championship this summer on the game's biggest stage.