The Los Angeles Lakers are not yet swinging for the fences in the wake of Magic Johnson’s sudden departure.
Sam Amick and Bill Oram of The Athletic reported on Saturday that the Lakers have not reached out to Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers or LA Clippers executive Jerry West about the front office vacancy left by Johnson’s resignation as president of basketball operations earlier this month.
The report also states that the team did not reach out to David Griffin before he was hired by the New Orleans Pelicans. Furthermore, Amick and Oram quote a source with knowledge of controlling owner Jeanie Buss’ plan as saying that the front office is GM Rob Pelinka’s to run “at least for now.”
Both West and Myers might be longshots at best. The former is about to turn 81 and is more of an advisor than a head honcho at this point. Meanwhile, the latter is the architect of the best basketball situation in the NBA right now and could be en route to his fourth NBA title in the last five years this June.
At least one of the two laughed off the idea of going to the Lakers entirely, so the team is indeed probably better off taking it slow and trying to identify if better candidates exist.
