After missing the past eight games, LeBron James (abdominal strain) is officially listed as questionable for the Los Angeles Lakers nationally-televised matchup against the Boston Celtics on Friday night. Get your popcorn ready.

Los Angeles is an underwhelming 8-8 through 16 games — 10 of which LeBron has missed. Understandably, the retooled Lakers have struggled to find consistency and chemistry without their lead orchestrator, among other absences.

Still, the Lakers are 4-6 without James, including a handful of avoidable losses. They are nearly 8.0 points per 100 possessions worse with him off the floor. The Russell Westbrook acquisition was supposed to help in that regard.

In his six appearances, soon-to-be-37-years old LeBron has averaged 24.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game — relatively modest numbers for him. He's taking more long jumpers and fewer free throws than ever before. On the other hand, he was visibly locked in on defense early on, and the impact of his physicality, IQ, and sheer presence is immeasurable.

Simply put: the Lakers aren't the Lakers without him, as Anthony Davis noted after Wednesday's hard-fought loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers can't truly assess their progress until LeBron plays for an extended stretch of games.

“We put a team together and we haven’t seen it yet,” AD said. “We still have guys who are able to win basketball games for us. … Once we get everybody back then we can kind of see, to be honest. Until then, we can keep fighting with what we got.”

Certainly, the Lakers are hoping LeBron's return will jumpstart their campaign. But, his inclusion in the starting lineup doesn't automatically fix every problem — and it can't erase the regrettable losses to Oklahoma City (twice) and Minnesota.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6jjkFoPgsWSa93BywQzORJ?si=c41a43fe863c47b5

Here are a few intertwined things to watch for when The King reclaims his court:

The Lakers have gone small in recent games, starting AD at the 5. This has been particularly beneficial for Westbrook, exemplified by his ideal performance vs. Milwaukee.

“I do think we’re really benefiting from the offensive space,” Frank Vogel postgame on Wednesday. “We had a ton of great looks from the 3-point line. I think Russell Westbrook had his best game as a Laker tonight. 15 assists and three turnovers. Clearly, he’s benefiting from that space, and AD is as well. … Lot of positives.”

With LeBron back, Vogel can stagger the lineups and separate his two ball-dominant stars for chunks of games. But both will start and finish, and the Westbrook-LeBron fit in those minutes will ultimately determine whether the Lakers can win a title.

We've only seen them together for six games. They started to find a groove towards the end of that stretch before James hit the injured list. For instance, Westbrook was far more active off-the-ball — screening, cutting — when he was playing next to LeBron.

Without James running the show, Westbrook has been careless towards the end of games. LeBron, of course, is one of the best crunch-time decision-makers in NBA history. In general, James' return should stabilize their execution late in games.

Plus, he should help avoid duds like the Lakers put forth against the Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, and Chicago Bulls.

LeBron's presence enables the Lakers to have a star on the court at all times. In the Bucks loss, Vogel trotted out a fivesome of Rajon Rondo, Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore (having a nightmare season), and DeAndre Jordan during a key second-half stretch when Giannis Antetokounmpo was resting. Presumably, Vogel thought the Lakers reserves unit could hang with the Bucks B-team while Russ and AD got a blow.

It was a miscalculation. That lineup missed a slew of key threes and the Lakers missed their opportunity to build a lead. With LeBron back, Vogel should not be in this predicament.

The most pressing question upon LeBron's return might be its impact on Talen Horton-Tucker.

THT has been a bright spot for the Lakers in an otherwise drab week. He dropped 17 points in his return against the San Antonio Spurs. The next day, he led Los Angeles with a career-high 28 points. He followed that up with 25 in Milwaukee. The 20-year old has been attacking the rim with his unique combination of abandon and grace, adding a refreshing jolt of youthful energy and athleticism, on both ends. He's drained 40% of his threes and has excelled on the defensive end.

In a mild surprise, Vogel has started THT in all three games. On Wednesday, he lauded Horton-Tucker but was non-committal about the starting lineup once LeBron comes back.

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“I haven’t made any decisions about what that’s ultimately going to look like,” Vogel said. “Sometimes, scoring off the bench is what you need. But he’s playing as good as anybody from the standpoint of both sides of the ball; what he’s giving to us on defense and what he’s giving to us on offense. He’s been terrific in his first few games back. He’ll have a big role but he definitely has a made a case.”

Horton-Tucker may be playing too well to come off the bench, even though he's another ball-dominant player alongside Russ and LeBron. However, if he's taking and making 3s, spacing is less of an issue. The Lakers already have an instant-offense generator in the Sixth Man role: Carmelo Anthony. (Counterpoint: Anthony has cooled off a bit, Malik Monk is unreliable, and Kendrick Nunn remains out with a knee bruise.)

“No matter his role, whether he starts or comes off the bench, we need his energy,” Anthony Davis said about THT. “The way he’s been playing, he has to keep that same mindset. He comes in, he’s shooting the ball well, he’s making the right reads, he’s doing great things for us defensively. But, we don’t want that to slow or fade away when we get guys back or his role changes.”

If Horton-Tucker continues to make remarkable strides in his third season, the LeBron-THT fit could be nearly as crucial as how Russ and LeBron mesh.

So: Does LeBron James solve all the Lakers' problems? Of course not. For one, he is part of the overall health and age concerns, not an exception. Additionally, there are legitimate questions about the roster: Can they defend the wing and hit 3s consistently? What happens when established veterans are squeezed from the rotation? What if Westbrook can't assimilate?

As broad as LeBron's shoulders are, it's unfair to expect him to fix everything.

Regardless, the Lakers aren't winning anything meaningful without LeBron and they can't truly discover an identity unless he's hooping. His return is more than welcome: it's a fresh start.