Magic Johnson affirms Lonzo Ball is Lakers’ starting PG after Isaiah Thomas trade
The Los Angeles Lakers are still committed to Lonzo Ball as their floor general despite the moves that they made at Thursday’s trade deadline.
Speaking with the media shortly after acquiring Isaiah Thomas as part of a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson affirmed that Ball will remain the team’s starting point guard, per Bill Oram of the Southern California News Group. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka also added that he thinks Thomas and Ball can play together.
The plan might be able to work — Ball, when he returns from his knee injury, could continue running the offense while matching up with opposing 2s on the other end, something that he probably has the defensive chops for. But if the Lakers choose to offer Thomas his fair share of playmaking duties as well, the star rookie showed at UCLA that he can also succeed in an off-ball capacity.
Granted, if the team eventually decides that Thomas coming off the bench behind Ball is the better way to go, that may cause big problems for IT’s camp.
