Hope For The Future
How does trading away one of your young assets provide hope for the future? This may sound counteractive, but it makes sense.
Under Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss, the Lakers had fallen into a rut. The team was stuck in what looked like it would be a long rebuild. Jeanie Buss did not like how things looked and made a change, bringing back Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations. Later on, Rob Pelinka was hired as general manager, as Kupchak and Buss were fired.
With that hire, new aired was breathed into the organization. Johnson wasted no time trying to improve the franchise’s outlook, as he committed to the team’s future. It led to landing the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and an additional selection later on.
The trade of Russell shows that Johnson and Pelinka were not content with just waiting for youngsters to develop. They have kept their future intact; they still have Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle to name a few, in addition to the second overall pick. Not only that, the Lakers can become players in free agency sooner than later.
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The Lakers can quickly become a prime destination for free agents. Johnson and Pelinka are a big part of that, as they have shown an aggression that Kupchak and Buss hadn’t for many years.