So How’s This For A Trade: Magic & Jerry For Jim Buss & Mitch Kupchak

No Comments February 14, 2017 Lakers By John Stellman

So here we go again.

Just another chaotic day in the ongoing, never ending soap opera that is Los Angeles Laker basketball.

They certainly do grab their share of the headlines.

And their saga doesn’t appear to be disappearing anytime soon.

You would think all the attention would be focused on their successful performances before sellout crowds.

Off The Court

Quite the contrary.

Their last three plus seasons on the floor at Staples Center have been forgettable.

The once proud, 16 time NBA champions, have accumulated a record of 84-218 (through the 1st 56 games this season).

Those negative numbers have resulted in a revolving door of head coaches.

Merry Go ‘Round

The carousel has included Mike D’Antoni (67-87) and Byron Scott (38-126) before Luke Walton.

Toss in Mike Brown (42-29) who won the Pacific Division in 2011-2012, but was fired five games into the following season.

He replaced Phil Jackson, who directed the Lakers from 1999-2004 and after a year’s hiatus. returned from 2005 through 2011.

Deserved Better

There hasn’t been any stability on the bench since the humiliated Hall Of Fame coach was unceremoniously booted out of town.

The Lakers fumbled that embarrassing scenario miserably.

Couple that with the in fighting and power struggles in the front office since the passing of Dr. Jerry Buss on February 18, 2013 and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

Crash Course

A train wreck waiting to happen.

The turmoil has created a made for television mini-series that’s unfolding inside the Laker offices in El Segundo.

Dramatic, suspenseful, cliff hanging episodes that have watchers on the edge of their seats.

Anxious on-lookers are wringing their hands together in anticipation of the next twist or turn.

Stand By

So what’s next?

Where do we go from here?

Are you ready for the next chapter?

Well, here’s the deal.

Magic Johnson, recently brought on board as a special adviser to club President Jeanie Buss (see article ‘Magic Johnson Joins Front Office, Are Jim Buss, Mitch Kupchak Out?’) wants to run the whole show.

That’s what No.32 recently told USA Today.

Total Control!

Asked how he thought his role would evolve Johnson said: “Working to call the shots, because it only works that way.

“Right now I’m advising. I get that. But at the end of the day, then we all got to come together and somebody’s got to say, ‘I’m making the the final call,’ all right?

“And who’s that going to be?

Decisions, Decisions

“Look, Jim (Buss), knows where we are, Jeanie knows where we are, as a franchise, and so some decisions have to be made.

“It’s going to take three to five years to get them back rolling again,” Johnson said on ‘CBS This Morning’.

“If we’re patient and we develop our own players, in today’s NBA it’s different that when I played.

Things Have Changed

“You have to develop your own players because free agent movement is not like it used to be.

“You have to make sure you hit a home run with the players you do draft and keep the players you have on your roster.”

Johnson stressed that coach Luke Walton is absolutely, “the key because, OK, what does he have in terms of who’s making him happy?

“It’s all coming together. All of us.

How To Get Better

“What do you like about the team you have now and what’s missing from the team? What would you like to see?

“And then he’ll tell you, ‘Well, I want.’ OK, we’ll bring those type of guys. Which one do you feel really fits the system?

“And he’ll blah-blah-blah, OK, let’s go with so-and-so.”

Say What?

Johnson is talking like a general manager.

Talk is cheap. Can he walk the walk?

No one can deny the success he’s had in the business world.

But Magic has never worked in an NBA front office.

Still, he might fit comfortably behind the desk in Jim’s office.

Broken Promises

The Executive Vice President Of Basketball Operations promised to have the Lakers playoff bound by this season.

Remember?

That obviously hasn’t happened.

And then there’s Mitch Kupchak, who spent $137M last summer on Loul Deng and Timofey Mozgov.

How’s that working for you?

A Winner!

So what if you knocked on the door of the general manager’s office, opened it and were greeted by Jerry West?

West was as spectacular in the front office as he was on the hardwood.

Between 1982-1983 and 1993-1994 West’s Lakers won five NBA championships.

West was named NBA Executive Of The Year in 1994-1995.

About Face

He took his legacy to Memphis in 2002 where the struggling Grizzlies (28-54) became an instant winner (50-32).

That earned West his second Executive Of The Year award.

Although he has sat on the Executive Board of the Golden State Warriors since 2011, West appears fascinated by what is unfolding in Los Angeles.

Multiple sources told Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News that West might be intrigued by an offer from the Lakers.

So could this be it?

Final season?

Series finale?

Epic conclusion?

Unbelievably compelling!!!

The Southern California News Group Contributed To This Article

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John Stellman

I was born with sports in my blood. I began coaching little league baseball at 15. I was the sports editor of my high school newspaper. I did football play by play for the college radio station. I broadcast high school basketball for a local commercial station. But baseball was always my passion. During the 1970's I covered the Angels for the Orange County Register. And now I am back where I belong...