NBA Rumors: Lakers Start Damage Control Following Botched Anthony Davis Trade

There is no telling on what the state now is over at the Los Angeles Lakers and team president Magic Johnson has his work cut out for himself. With a team made up mostly of young players, the NBA great said that he spoke to the players individually in an effort to explain that botched Anthony Davis trade.

The main goal of Johnson was to make sure that all Lakers players remained on the same page. The ultimate goal of the team is to make the playoffs this season, something he revealed to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“I talked to guys individually,” Johnson said. “Because that’s important to have sidebars with them. Make sure that we’re heading all in the same direction. And we are. And we got a goal ahead of us to try to make the playoffs. That’s what it’s all about.”

At least two players have reportedly understood what Johnson was trying to do – LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma. Curiously, Kuzma was a familiar name mentioned in the Anthony Davis trade talks. The other players who were dangled included Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo, and Lance Stephenson, all of which were covered in a previous post.

Johnson understands that he is technically speaking to young players who may not be familiar with how an NBA trade goes. It will be interesting how these discussions will turn out and hopefully place the Lakers back on the right track.

The Lakers are 28-28 as of this writing, two games behind the eighth-place Sacramento Kings over in the Western Conference. The Lakers are 1-2 since the Feb. 7 trade deadline, their lone win of which was against the Boston Celtics, 129-128. They have since dropped games to the Philadelphia 76ers (120-143) and the Atlanta Hawks (113-117) heading into the All-Star break. Their next game won’t be until Feb. 22 against the Houston Rockets.

While Johnson has said his piece, it remains to be seen how the players mentioned in that Anthony Davis trade will respond. But being in the league for over 40 years, he reiterated that players do get traded – a reality in the professional ranks.

For now, he assures the Lakers core that they are in a good place. But the landscape could change once more in the summer once the free agent market comes around. Expect the Lakers to revisit an Anthony Davis trade and some other big names to see if they can pull off a deal this time around.