Lakers Rumors: Concrete Timeline Established For Anthony Davis Return

The LA big man is ramping up his workouts.

Los Angeles Lakers All-Star center Anthony Davis is reportedly set to take the next step in his comeback efforts, and now has a definitive goal as far as a return timeline for his 19-24 Lakers.

In a recent appearance on FanDuel TV, Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed the good news:

The hope is that Anthony Davis is gonna be able to get back out on the floor with a handful of games left before the All-Star break - early February 🙏@ShamsCharania on potential return for Lakers star Anthony Davis#RunItBack | https://t.co/Q9hUtUoPZJ pic.twitter.com/DyHF2PFdjd

— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) January 16, 2023

"So Anthony Davis is expected to start running now," Charania revealed. "So once that happens and he's back [on] the floor running full speed, [at] that point he's gonna progress to contact work in the relative near future. I'm told that the hope is that Anthony Davis is gonna be able to get back out on the floor with a handful of games left before the All-Star break. So that puts you at about early February for a potential return for Anthony Davis to get back on the floor. He's got a bone spur issue, he's got a stress reaction in that foot."

"He's one of the guys that should be in the All-Star game this year, voted in," Charania noted. "He's already one of the leaders in the [fan voting]. So you've gotta come back before the All-Star break if you want to play in the game itself. We'll see if he's gonna be able to make it back." 

Davis is currently the third-leading recipient of fan votes among Western Conference frontcourt players. Though there are three frontcourt spots available for starters, that does not mean he is guaranteed a starting spot. Fan votes are weighted as 50% of all possible votes. The remaining 50% is split evenly between players and media. Davis has already missed 18 games and counting for Los Angeles. Let's assume Davis returns for LA's first February game, the 2nd against the Pacers. That means he'd still have missed 27 of 52 contests. Missing nearly 30 games before the All-Star break, on a sub-.500 club currently not even good enough to have a top 10 record in its own conference, does not an All-Star make.

There are other players in the West who have enjoyed better, healthier seasons, and probably deserve a starting nod over AD. LeBron James and Nikola Jokic, the two leading fan vote-getters, seem pretty much assured of making the cut. 

Zion Williamson would have been a natural third All-Star starter choice, as the third-best player on the third-seeded New Orleans Pelicans, but a right hamstring strain has limited him to just 29 appearances thus far. Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis and Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, who have both been largely healthy, both seem worthy of a starting nod over Davis.

"But right now the goal is for Anthony Davis to be back out on the floor with about a handful of games left," Charania continued. "And that puts you right around [the] trade deadline, and we'll see how that impacts which moves the Lakers could make."

It's nice to hear that a concrete timeline for Davis is back, and that a surgery -- which could have extended his absence far beyond early February -- is not currently in the cards.