Magic Johnson on First Take

[WiggyRuss]

I think Lonzo still has value, but I wouldnt give up a top 10 pick in this draft at a chance at those guys.

After the top 3 I think there are 6-7 guys that are all very interesting prospects including: Culver, Hunter, Garland, Reddish, White, Porter Jr., Sekou.....

after that....if I was in the late lotto and thought I could help fix his shot MAYBE take an effort, but there are still some nice guys left- Nasir Little, Bol Bol, Romeo Langford, Brandon Clarke from Gonzaga.....PJ Washington of Kentucky is an interesting stretch 4 player....

 

[WiggyRuss]

I heard the one way they go after Kyrie is if they pull off the AD trade, that trade would include D-Lo, Allen, etc. Kyrie-AD is the plan but doesn't seem all that likely.

Russell would have to be a sign and trade as well--- and I would think hed like to pick his destination unless they are willing to give him the most money.

 

[shopson67]

I heard the one way they go after Kyrie is if they pull off the AD trade, that trade would include D-Lo, Allen, etc. Kyrie-AD is the plan but doesn't seem all that likely.

AD doesn't really make sense for them. They just made the playoffs; why wipe the slate clean for a guy that didn't?

 

[flyerhawk]

Kyle Kuzma and a much-needed salary dump?

Lonzo was turning the corner in terms of confidence and aggression offensively when he got hurt this year. EVERYONE turns an ankle in the NBA, not exactly a worry. The Lakers have also treated him with kid gloves when hurt, erring on the side of caution.

The issue isn't that his injury is a huge concern. The issue is that he's missed 40% of the games for the Lakers in his 2 years with the team. That's a lot. It hurts his trade value.

 

[trojanfan12]

I agree. And I think that Lonzo is still capable of being a very good PG. He's a very good playmaker and a solid defender.

But he is entering his 3rd year now and injuries have, so far, really limited his growth. IMO, fans and teams are willing to give up on PGs too early. Which is why I think that the Lakers are probably better off keeping him because they aren't like to get a high lottery pick back for him. Look at what the Lakers got in return for D'Angelo Russell.

Agree. This coming season, assuming he can stay healthy, may go a long way to determining how good he can be. This will be the first time in his career that he's been able to spend the entire off-season working on his shot rather than recovering from an injury/surgery.

If there is improvement, he could live up to his draft status. If not, he can still play in the league for a long time, but he'll have a Ricky Rubio/Rajon Rondo type career. Good, but disappointing considering he was a #2 pick.

For D'Angelo Russell they got Lebron. That seems like a good trade to me.

 

[flyerhawk]

Agree. This coming season, assuming he can stay healthy, may go a long way to determining how good he can be. This will be the first time in his career that he's been able to spend the entire off-season working on his shot rather than recovering from an injury/surgery.

If there is improvement, he could live up to his draft status. If not, he can still play in the league for a long time, but he'll have a Ricky Rubio/Rajon Rondo type career. Good, but disappointing considering he was a #2 pick.

Yeah. He's not a bust. His floor right now is serviceable starting PG for a non-playoff team. His ceiling is still all-star level PG, although I think the elite PG ship has sailed.

For D'Angelo Russell they got Lebron. That seems like a good trade to me.

LOL. That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is you got Rondo, Lance Stephenson and Javale McGee for him.

 

[trojanfan12]

LOL. That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is you got Rondo, Lance Stephenson and Javale McGee for him.

Well, to get Lebron, they had to move D-Lo because he was the cost of getting rid of the Mozgov deal (which is how they created the cap space). So, I'll stick with the "traded him for Lebron" narrative. lol

 

[Mecca]

The Lakers just keep slitting their own throats.

Shut up already.

He's gone.

Best damage control would be to let this story die.


According to nearly two dozen current and former team staffers, ranging from occupants of executive suites to office cubicles, in addition to league sources and others close to the team, the Lakers under Johnson and Pelinka were fraught with dysfunction, on and off the court. These sources, who feared reprisal and weren’t authorized to speak publicly, describe Pelinka and Johnson as managers who made unilateral free-agent acquisitions; triggered a spate of tampering investigations and fines; berated staffers, including Walton; and created an in-house culture that many current and former longtime staffers said marginalized their colleagues, inspired fear and led to feelings of anxiety severe enough that at least two staffers suffered panic attacks.

 

[WiggyRuss]

The Lakers just keep slitting their own throats.

Shut up already.

He's gone.

Best damage control would be to let this story die.


According to nearly two dozen current and former team staffers, ranging from occupants of executive suites to office cubicles, in addition to league sources and others close to the team, the Lakers under Johnson and Pelinka were fraught with dysfunction, on and off the court. These sources, who feared reprisal and weren’t authorized to speak publicly, describe Pelinka and Johnson as managers who made unilateral free-agent acquisitions; triggered a spate of tampering investigations and fines; berated staffers, including Walton; and created an in-house culture that many current and former longtime staffers said marginalized their colleagues, inspired fear and led to feelings of anxiety severe enough that at least two staffers suffered panic attacks.

i posted hte article on the vogel coach thread

the worst parts?

Rich Paul had his hands in everything...

Linda Rambis is the "shadow owner"

Pelinka just makes shit up.....

it reminds me SOOOOO much of the Browns until the Haslems took a back seat and hired a competent, credible President in Dorsey to run the franchise.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

There's video of the Kobe/Heath Ledger lie:



This legit could get him fired lol. It's so bad.

 

[WiggyRuss]

There's video of the Kobe/Heath Ledger lie:



This legit could get him fired lol. It's so bad.

as i have said...

they need to fire Pelinka, get rid of both Rambis' and hire a credible, smart, likeable, Team President that can bring in a team of competent operators who can apply a modern approach to franchise building.

 

[Mecca]

i posted hte article on the vogel coach thread

the worst parts?

Rich Paul had his hands in everything...

Linda Rambis is the "shadow owner"

Pelinka just makes shit up.....

it reminds me SOOOOO much of the Browns until the Haslems took a back seat and hired a competent, credible President in Dorsey to run the franchise.

Extreme FUCKERY.

 

[Mecca]

There's video of the Kobe/Heath Ledger lie:



This legit could get him fired lol. It's so bad.

This motherfucker needs Jesus.

 

[msgkings322]

This motherfucker needs Jesus.

Jesus Shuttlesworth

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

This motherfucker needs Jesus.

The story noted that someone "in the know" advised the writer that the dinner with Ledger never happened. There is literally no fucking way that person is anybody other than Kobe himself.

If you've lost Kobe, you've probably lost everybody else. What a disaster.

as i have said...

they need to fire Pelinka, get rid of both Rambis' and hire a credible, smart, likeable, Team President that can bring in a team of competent operators who can apply a modern approach to franchise building.

They're gonna grab Masai, aren't they.

 

[Bart]

as i have said...

they need to fire Pelinka, get rid of both Rambis' and hire a credible, smart, likeable, Team President that can bring in a team of competent operators who can apply a modern approach to franchise building.

Couldn't agree more but with Jeannie there I think it's all wishful thinking. I'll probably start trying to find a new team to root for, Lakers aren't going to turn it around any time soon.

 

[wildturkey]

Just a couple of thoughts on the new ESPN piece by Baxter Holmes that Wiggy and Mecca linked to earlier;

1) This must be the piece Magic tried to have killed. There was talk a few months ago (like January or Feb) that ESPN was working on a story that would be damaging to Magic in regards to his treatment of Lakers staff members and that he reached out to his friends at ESPN to have the story killed. Well this story has parts that describe that exact issue with Magic Johnson. So this lends credence to those rumors back then of Magic trying to kill the story because indeed, ESPN was working on something. We'll never know if it was indeed killed at the time and came out after Johnson was no longer with the Lakers or if this was always the scheduled release of the story but the fact is their reporters had found something.

2) I push back hard on the sources within the story that say its "highly unusual" for an agent (in this case, Rich Paul) to have the kind of access he supposedly had within the Lakers (team flights, practices, etc). Why? Because this is the EXACT SAME kind of things you would see about Lebron's time with the Cavs and the Heat. In fact, its partly believed that relationship is why Lebron left the Heat because Team Lebron and Riley had friction. So this is not "highly unusual". It's par for the course if you have Lebron James on your team. You know that going in. Now maybe it is unusual compared to other agents*, but its definitely not unusual when it comes to Rich Paul and Lebron James

*This is debatable. Jordan's agent, David Falk, had a big presence back in the day. A couple of other power agents have been known to throw their weight around too.

3) Like I've said from the start, Jeanie is a big problem. It won't stop until she changes her mentality or sells the team. You can't run a team (or any business) just by hiring people you like. She needs to grow a spine and rip this out from the root; an entirely new front office with zero ties to the Lakers or Buss Family.

 

[msgkings322]

Couldn't agree more but with Jeannie there I think it's all wishful thinking. I'll probably start trying to find a new team to root for, Lakers aren't going to turn it around any time soon.

Just root for whoever is favored to win every year

 

[Bart]

Just root for whoever is favored to win every year

No need to root for you then.

 

[Wamu]

Just root for whoever is favored to win every year