Lakers Rumors: Rivals shocked by team not pursuing front office candidates

Recent Lakers rumors have been about the shock around the league of them not pursuing certain candidates for president of basketball operations.

With the NBA Playoffs in full swing, there have been plenty of Lakers rumors surrounding what will be next for the Los Angeles Lakers.

On the final day of the regular season, the Lakers saw their president of basketball operations, Magic Johnson, step down. This was a shocking move by Johnson, as he didn’t tell anyone in the organization before announcing that he was stepping down during an impromptu press conference.

Johnson stepping down was a fitting end to a wild season for the Lakers that saw plenty of ups and downs. Now, the Lakers will be attempting to find some stability, as they head into a big offseason.

Shortly after Johnson stepped down, Luke Walton and the Lakers parted ways. This was something that we all saw coming, and he is now on his way to coach the Sacramento Kings.

As far as the president of basketball operations position, that is still available. Recently, Marc Stein of the New York Times reported that rival organizations are shocked that the Lakers haven’t gone hard after some potential candidates to fill the role.

"In numerous rival organizations, there is both shock and relief that the Lakers haven’t responded to events of the past week by chasing the likes of Golden State’s Bob Myers, San Antonio’s R.C. Buford and Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti before they go looking for a new coach."

For the Lakers, adding a president of basketball operations that can bring some stability to the organization seems like the way they should go. With the ability this offseason to sign a max free agent, those type of players aren’t going to be coming to a team that is a mess. While the Lakers do have some appealing assets, they were unfortunately a mess for the most part this season.

Also, the Lakers need to hire a new head coach. Generally, if they were going to get a new president of basketball operations, that person would certainly want a say in a new coach coming aboard.

For now, it seems like the Lakers are sticking with Rob Pelinka as the general manager, and his role might have even increased with Johnson gone. As the Lakers head toward a very important offseason, they need to make sure that their front office and coaching staff are stable.