The Lakers have lost 72% of their games over the last four years.
They’ve also assembled a young core that features D'Angelo Russell,Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
Are the Lakers headed in the right direction, or are they on the wrong track?
Magic Johnson revealed what he told Jeanie Buss before she hired him as an advisor.
Johnson, via CBS This Morning:
I began to tell her what I felt about the team and the direction that the team was headed, and I didn’t think it was in a good direction.
We know that it’s going to take some time. It’s going to take three to five years to get them back again rolling.
Bemoan the situation you inherit and trumpet the need for patience? This is Job Preservation 101, and Johnson knows business.
He’s gunning to run the front office, and that means resuming his public campaign against Jim Buss. Johnson’s tactics in seeking a promotion are a little unseemly, but that doesn’t make him wrong.
The Lakers have signed too many veterans over the last few years — including Luol Deng, Timofey Mozgov, Lou Williams, Nick Young and, the elephant in the room, Kobe Bryant — to believe this was a team that understood its place. The Lakers weren’t just rebuilding and harvesting young talent. They were trying to win immediately — and falling flat on their face.
That doesn’t engender much confidence in Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak.
However, the Lakers have drafted well under those two. In a league where on-court failure is rewarded with higher draft picks, the Lakers’ future looks bright. They might have backed themselves into this position, but they’re here. Whoever runs the front office in the coming years is set up for success.
Remember that too as you listen to Johnson’s spin.
