Check out our slideshow of three strengths for the Los Angeles Lakers heading into the 2017-18 season.
Since Magic Johnson became President of Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers and named Rob Pelinka as General Manager, there has been a lot of discussion about what will happen with the Lakers over the next few years.
Will Magic bring them back to Showtime? Will he attract the superstars that have been neglecting the Lakers over the past few offseasons? A lot of questions that remain to be answered.
Trading D’Angelo Russell and drafting Lonzo Ball gave Lakers fans a glimpse at what Magic has in mind. He made it clear that he doesn’t want to give up the youth he believes in for a superstar, especially if he has a chance of getting them to sign with the Lakers via free agency in the summer of 2018.
He proved this in the trade talks with the Indiana Pacers when they kept asking for Brandon Ingram and other young players for Paul George and Magic wouldn’t budge.
It is the smart choice on Magic’s part when you think about it because with all the power moves other teams in the NBA made this offseason, adding Paul George to this Lakers roster wouldn’t automatically make them a title contender. They would need more pieces to be added anyway next offseason. So might as well wait another year and the young guys run the show and then empty the bank vaults in 2018.
With all the moves made this offseason, let’s look at the strengths this Lakers team has going into this next season and what Magic can hope to achieve with them.