How Magic Johnson Prevented a Dynasty
“Impatience can cause wise people to do foolish things”
-Janette Oke
February 21st, 2017. On that date, it was announced that 1st-ballot Hall-of-Famer and former Lakers point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson was replacing Jim Buss as the president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers fans around the globe were excited and can you blame them? I’m a Cavs fan, and if 20 years down the line LeBron James became the president of the Cleveland Cavaliers, I would be ecstatic. Little did these fans know of the turmoil that was about to unfold in the city of angels.
Let’s go back to the 2016-2017 season when Magic stepped in. At the time, the Los Angeles Lakers had more than a handful of young players that were improving each season that were all under the age of 25. The Lakers had: D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Brandon Ingram, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr and Ivica Zubac on their active roster. Those are six, yes, SIX young players who have now had an outstanding 2018-2019 season. The sad truth?
Only one of those guys is still donning the purple and gold today. The question has to be asked, why would anyone give up 83% of their young talent as a rebuilding franchise?
To answer that, we start at the end of the season. The Lakers ended on a 14th place 26-56 season finishing only above the Phoenix Suns (shocker) and the Brooklyn Nets, marking yet another very disappointing season for the franchise. Although it’s tough loosing, those losses result in a lottery pick, and the Lakers were fortunate enough to get the number 2 pick in the 2017 draft and that’s how it all starts.
Mistake #1: Trading D’Angelo Russell
Multiple rumors were already circulating at this point that Lonzo Ball was a lock for the Lakers at the number 2 slot and it was well known that Magic Johnson thought very highly of the kid. Only problem was that he played the point and the Lakers already had Russell. So what choices did Magic have? Draft the next best talent and hope D’Angelo will develop leadership skills? Or trade him for a few assets?
In a not-so-shocking fashion, He chose to trade him. The Lakers sent D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and the 27th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft (Kyle Kuzma).
At this point, it now seemed that Lonzo Ball was going to be the new glimmer of hope for Los Angeles. When people asked Magic why they dealt Russell he stated: "He has the talent to be an All-Star. We want to thank him for what he did for us. But what I needed was a leader. I needed somebody also that can make the other players better and also [somebody] that players want to play with." He claimed D’Angelo wasn’t a leader, and at the time given the circumstances, that’s a fair assessment. But let’s not forget in that quote he admitted that Russell has all-star potential, and if you truly believe that then why on earth would you cut him loose? Why wouldn’t you give this young man the time to grow as an individual and become a leader? Being a leader is a very hard thing to do in the NBA, along with any other professional sport or even profession for that matter. It isn’t something most NBA players bring to the table in the first few years of their career, and certainly not directly after their name is announced by Adam Silver. That wasn’t the case for Russell, and he seemed to think Lonzo was going to be different. That takes us to the 2017 NBA Draft where we see mistake number 2.
Mistake #2: Drafting Lonzo Ball and not Jayson Tatum
“With the second pick in the 2017 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select, Lonzo Ball out of UCLA.” Well, there it is. To be fair, there was a lot of hype around Lonzo at the time. He was coming into the draft off a good season at UCLA and his outspoken father Lavar Ball did a good job at getting his sons name out there. And yes, I know he’s still young/unproven and he could very easily become a dominate force in this league. But regardless of how he turns out, this pick was a bad move for the Lakers.
First off, I want to make sure it’s understood that Lonzo Ball’s skill and production are not the reason why he’s the Lakers second big mistake. It’s unfortunate that he is the reason the Lakers don’t currently possess current all-star D’Angelo Russell. They had their point guard of the future in Russell and many people agreed. So why not just take the next best player who isn’t that position? If you’re wondering who that was it was Jayson Tatum.
Jayson Tatum. A rookie who led an injury-riddled Boston Celtics team to game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. A man with the IQ of a 10-year vet and enough talent already to be a primary scoring option. Could you imagine pairing him with D’Angelo? Not to mention, the Celtics wouldn’t have taken Ball because they already had Kyrie. The Celtics would have most likely selected someone like Josh Jackson. Next up, the Phoenix Suns who could have avoided a drunk bust, not to mention they already have a point guard who isn’t happy and would rather play elsewhere. Tatum and Russell would have been a dynamic duo for many years in the bright lights of LA, and Lonzo’s playmaking ability is exactly what Phoenix needed. It’s a win-win for both of these teams. Sorry Phoenix fans, I know the avalanche just doesn’t seem to stop out there.
The next big mistake the Lakers made was towards the end the 2017-2018 season. This season showed improvement as they got the 11th spot in the west and had a 35-47 record. The original six on the Lakers were all making some progress and that brings us right to mistake number 3.
Mistake #3: Not re-signing Julius Randle
Julius Randle made the most progress made by any of those players during that season. He had a somewhat breakout year where he became a reliable scoring option and started to look comfortable and confident in what he brought to the table. He even wanted to stay in L.A and was very open about it, but the Lakers didn’t offer him an extension when the opportunity came. So why on earth would you not re-sign the player on your team giving the most production? Because you’re a big-market team chasing big name free agents next year? Would you then have to dump other young players without much in return? Yes, and that takes us to…
Mistake #4: Trading Clarkson and Nance Jr.
To clear up cap space for one or more potential free agents in the 2018 off-season, LA had to get rid of some contracts that would have been in the way. Enter Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. Although they don’t seem like future all all-stars, they were doing respectable jobs on the floor. Clarkson provided them with an abundance of scoring off the bench averaging 14.7 points, and Larry Nance Jr. who was doing all of the dirty work in the paint, along with the occasional poster slam. Magic didn’t see a future with them so he shipped both players to Cleveland getting Isaiah Thomas (for his expiring contract), Channing Frye (again, contract) and the Cavs’ 2018 first-round pick. These are players that any team would love to have on their bench because they do their jobs well, and since being traded to Cleveland, they have improved drastically. Snap months later to the offseason, and now the Lakers have the cap space they were looking for. That takes us to mistake V
Mistake #5: Signing LeBron James
As a Cleveland native and Cavaliers fan, believe me when I say that I understand LeBron James is a once in a lifetime player and will go down as one of the best players to ever hit the court in basketball history. The king is an absolute machine. He was fresh off of 8 straight NBA Finals appearances, 14 straight years in the post-season, and being the face of the league for over a decade. As Stephen A. Smith once said: “Father time is undefeated” and that is the case with LeBron. The man was 33 years old at the time of signing, and the Lakers signed him to a 4-year max contract while in the process of rebuilding. But now you got 3 unproven rookies and a superstar who’s only interest is winning.” At this point, the Lakers were in too deep, we’ll call that mistake number 6.
Mistake 6: In too deep
Here’s a universal truth when it comes to the NBA. If a player is over the age of 32, there is no rebuilding around that player because they need to be on already competitive rosters and most likely have one big contract left until age starts to erode their abilities. Now the Lakers are forced to go after already proven veterans to help LeBron compete. What does that mean for the young guys on the team? They went from thinking they were going to be cornerstones of the franchise for years to come, and now all of the sudden they’ve turned into trade bait. That can mess with players’ heads and destroy your team’s chemistry. Remember LA this past season? Anthony Davis? I rest my case. My point is rebuilding teams should stick to rebuilding and not try to impatiently short cut their road to contention.
Teams who are rebuilding should live with the results of the draft and weed out the busts while digging their roots in the ones that succeed. Once a team has formed an identity, then they can sign free agents that fill in the gaps along the way. One team that followed that moto is the Golden State Warriors, who before signing Durant won a championship and now broke the regular season winning record and went 73-9. At this point, it’s too late for the Lakers to rebuild. They signed LeBron James. They are now pretty much forced to give up on the young talent they have and focus on getting big names in free agency.
Two years. All of that happened in the two years Magic Johnson was the president of basketball operations for this team. The lineup that could have been this season:
PG: D’Angelo Russell 21.1 PPG
SG: Brandon Ingram 18.3 PPG
SF: Jayson Tatum 15.7 PPG
PF: Julius Randle 21.4 PPG
C: Ivica Zubac 8.9 PPG
Lakers fans, we both know that this team would have been playing in the post-season this year, and we also know this core would be winning back to back championships in 3-4 years. Magic Johnson walked into the front office, set this team years back, and just up and quit because he wants to tweet. I know he’s still a Lakers legend, but you have to at least hate him a little. Not every single move he made was bad though, there one good thing he did that I’m sure you have been thinking about this whole time.
The Positive: Kyle Kuzma
Wow. No one saw this coming, but we’re not complaining. In recent years, my favorite performance was a classic Lakers vs. Celtics where Kyle Kuzma tore up the floor as a rookie and carried his team to victory in a game that came down to the last shot. Most impressive part was that the Celtics were a way better team. I guess Magic did do one thing right, but now with where the Lakers are, Kyle Kuzma is more trade bait than asset, stuck between too good to be passed up but not good enough to contend.
The Verdict
As an NBA fan, I’m disappointed this team didn’t happen. The combination of those players is a match made in heaven. Their play styles would have gelled so well, and they would have been a treat to watch. This wasn’t to rip on the Lakers. This was to call Magic Johnson out for being a sub-par president and ruining showtime part III. LA, I wish you the best moving forward. Maybe now that Magic is gone you can turn this around. We all want the #LakeShow back.