Weeks of speculation about a possible Anthony Davis deal clearly had some effect on the young Los Angeles Lakers, and team president Magic Johnson is going to try to smooth some things over after no trade came to fruition.
According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Johnson is set to fly to Philadelphia this weekend to meet with the team and discuss the situation. Johnson wants to tell the Lakers to focus on the goal the rest of the season and remind them that the NBA is a business while also allowing anyone who wishes to speak the opportunity to do so.
Johnson has sensed that the trade rumors have negatively impacted the team in recent weeks. It’s particularly true of young players such as Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram, who are still very young but had to play through constant trade speculation.
Before Thursday night, the Lakers had lost six of eight dating back to Jan. 19, culminating in a very ugly 136-94 loss at Indiana two days before the deadline as the Davis speculation peaked. That Indiana game featured fans chanting about the rumors at one young player, and it led LeBron James to admit that some of his teammates were struggling with the rumors. Those rumors will quiet down a bit for the time being, but with the Lakers a game and a half out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, they have work to do and can’t dwell on what did or didn’t happen before the deadline.
