Lakers Rumors: NBA GM Thinks LA Will Have Trouble Signing Free Agents, Magic Johnson Notes

The idea that the Los Angeles Lakers likely won't sign a top free agent has continued to gain steam over the course of the 2018-2019 NBA season. In addition to rumors that superstars like Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard are eyeing other destinations, some high-ranking NBA executives seem to believe L.A. could strike out this summer.

On the latest edition of ESPN's “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast, Jackie MacMullan said that one NBA general manager told her a few weeks ago the Lakers would have a difficult time pairing another star with LeBron James.

“He was saying how he really did think they were going to have trouble landing free agents and how they really had misjudged what the Laker brand means in today's world because players are so independent in their thinking,” MacMullan said of the GM, whom also predicted that Magic Johnson's time as Lakers’ president might soon be up.

“And then he said to me, ‘And you know Magic’s gonna quit.’”

Los Angeles was able to sign James during Johnson's tenure, but it was clear this season that the team needed at least one more All-Star to even be competitive in the Western Conference. Johnson had vowed to bring another star to L.A., but it was starting to become apparent that was going to be a very difficult task.

The Lakers tried hard to trade for Anthony Davis during the season. Not only did the team not land the NBA's best big man, but they seemingly ruined any chance they might’ve had to make a playoff run in the process.

The Lakers needed Davis to save the season after the team began to struggle with LeBron James nursing a groin injury. Los Angeles didn't get much better when James returned, in large part because the team Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka built around the NBA's top star simply wasn't good enough.

While the Lakers were heavily criticized for their free-agent signings last summer, Johnson was publicly confident that he had built a roster that would properly complement James. That clearly wasn't the case, and since his resignation, there have been multiple reports indicating that Johnson wasn't exactly the hardest-working team president in the NBA.

“He wasn’t fully committed to the demands of the role in this day and age,” a source told True Hoop’s Henry Abbott. “He was an absentee executive who was gone for weeks at a time. He was unwilling to have a healthy dialogue and to enter into decision-making strategy with the team around him. He believed too much that who he was, Magic Johnson, was more than enough.”

It's unknown who will replace Johnson and lead the charge for the Lakers in trying to sign a top free agent this summer.