The Los Angeles Lakers have just dropped out of the standings for the Play-In tournament following their 128-110 blowout loss against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. With a handful of games remaining, LA is still in contention for the Play-In, but at this point, this team is now facing the harsh reality of missing the playoffs altogether.

If this happens, this will be only the third time in LeBron James' decorated career that he doesn't get to participate in the postseason. This could spell trouble for the Lakers in terms of the future of their prized superstar.

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ESPN's Brian Windhorst recently pointed out how LeBron's history usually takes on “four-year cycles.” With James now on his fourth year in LA, the renowned NBA insider hinted at the possibility of LeBron making a shocking exit from Hollywood in the near future:

“LeBron’s career operates in four-year increments. He wears his team out. I call it organizational fatigue,” Windhorst said in a recent episode of ESPN's Get Up program (h/t Dan Lyons of SI). “It happened the first time in Cleveland. They ran out of draft picks, they had a bunch of guys in their mid-30s. Shaq close to the finish line, Antawn Jamison.

“He goes to Miami, four years, great run, they run out of draft picks. In his last game, three guys retired after the game. He goes to Cleveland, four years, great run. They run out of draft picks. They got old guys. Here we are in L.A., fourth year. The oldest team we’ve seen in NBA history, they’re out of draft picks, they’re exhausted.”

Windhorst brings up an excellent point here — and he has facts to back up his claim. If you look at it from this perspective then you can't help but concede that yes, this could possibly be LeBron's final season with the Lakers. He's used up his four years and it is clear that LA is facing a major fork in the road in terms of building a more formidable roster for next season. Could The King actually jump ship this summer?

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The one thing the Lakers have going against this notion is the fact that LeBron is still under contract until the end of the 2022-23 season. This means that unless he demands for a trade this summer, then he really has no other choice but to stick it out with LA for at least one more season. Then again, we've seen crazier things happen and we all know just how much power LeBron yields.

For what it's worth, Windhorst does not think LeBron is going to be leaving the Lakers this summer. James loves living in LA and the fact that he could be eyeing a career in Hollywood after he retires makes his departure even more unlikely.

“I don’t think he wants to move,” Windhorst said. “He wants to have his cake and eat it, too.”

This is something the Lakers will need to face in the coming months. For now, however, they have more pressing matters at hand. The Lakers are on the brink of missing the playoffs which for their extremely high standards would be an absolute disaster. All hope is not yet lost, though. LeBron (once he returns from his current injury) and Co. still have a handful of games to turn it around. It's not going to be easy, but it's definitely still doable.