Newly anointed Los Angeles Lakers team President Magic Johnson is starting to get comfortable in his new role. The Hall of Fame point guard and former Laker already traded sixth-man Lou Williams on Tuesday for Corey Brewer and a first-round pick. While Brewer is not part of the future, that draft selection could add to the talent-laden cupboard the Lakers have. Johnson seems intent on keeping the young talent on the team and not turning them into proven stars.
Magic on trades: "Our untouchables are our young talent right now…There’s been people that have been calling for [them], but we’ve said no."
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) February 21, 2017
The Lakers seem content with “tanking” this year and recouping assets in preparation for the deep upcoming NBA Draft. This is a nice change of pace from past Lakers teams, where the ever-burning desire to win trumps every rebuilding effort. Los Angeles certainly has plenty of nice young players in DeAngelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson, and Julius Randle and its appears they will be the young core for some time. Johnson coming out to say the young talent are untouchable is a clear sign of the direction of the team.
Magic Johnson will look to fill out the rest of his front office with like-minds. He has already reached out about a potential general manager and may look at another former Laker legend to assist with the rebuild.
