How bad does Magic Johnson look in this scenario?
David Grubb:
"Magic is hurting himself pretty badly. The Ben Simmons incident over the weekend just added fuel to the fire. As an outsider, and someone who has been a Laker fan since the 80’s, it looks like Magic bit off more than he could chew with this job. My opinion is that Magic sold the Lakers’ soul to LeBron James out of desperation, and now he can hear the clock ticking. Desperation rarely leads to strategic decision-making. His trustworthiness is in question from his current players and from everyone around the NBA. I never thought I’d write that about Magic Johnson. Never."
Lake Show Life already did.
Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James showing desperation for Anthony Davis
The Los Angeles Lakers are all in trying to get Anthony Davis by the trade deadline. The pursuit of Anthony Davis shows the desperation of Laker Land.
For the record, Magic Johnson was cleared of tampering with the Ben Simmons situation. Sixers GM, Elton Brand, apologized for the confusion that was caused. But that still doesn’t take away the damage to the Pelicans and the Lakers.
The Lakers young core have been wildly inconsistent since all of this started. A 42 point loss to the Pacers without their superstar, Victor Oladipo. A blowout on national TV to the Sixers. To top all that off, a horrible loss to the Hawks.
All of this is showing two franchises in need of leadership. How bad is it for the Lakers? Mitch Kupchak mentioned the decline with Dr. Jerry Buss’ death with Bill Oram of The Athletic.
"In the four years after Dr. Jerry Buss died in 2013, the Lakers had made the playoffs just once, and the organization was splintered at the top. Dr. Buss’ wishes of having Jim run basketball and Jeanie be in charge of business were not working. The siblings did not speak. Jeanie did not trust Jim to make the right decisions. And Kupchak was caught in the middle. “I think everybody knows, when Dr. Buss passed away, everything changed,” Kupchak said. “And, quite frankly, the further away we got from his passing, the worse it got.”"
With Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov deals aside, it’s hard to ignore Kupchak’s assessment. The Lakers front office has a lot of work to do to build the trust not only of the roster now but the NBA teams going forward.