Jeanie does what a good business person should do - hire people she thinks are competent to handle the basketball side of the business, where she has little experience, and focus on what she's good at. That was the logic in hiring Magic. You might disagree at her choice in hire, but I don't think this is Jeanie's fault necessarily. Regarding firing Mitch/Jim, it had to be done. No free agents were going to come here with those two at the helm. Kobe even said that. At this point, we have to give Magic this summer. Most people on this board understand that signing these 1 year contracts was just punting the cap space to next season because we missed out on George/Leonard. This season wasn't supposed to be this bad, but it we weren't going to contend either. Magic himself has said he'll fire himself if his plan doesn't work out, so let's see how things go.
90's Lakers is a solid comparison. Just that we don't have a top 5 all time 18 year old sitting around. But you're right, we brought in a star and won games but couldn't advance far in the playoffs. Then we traded those borderline all stars for veterans and we end up winning. In this case we might have to trade our young guys sooner for a star, since we don't have Kobe waiting and LeBron is 34, not a 24 like Shaq was.
I don't see that lasting very long without a star. Kobe retired in 2016. Counting on fans to pay sky high ticket prices at Staples to watch the kids lose is not a smart investment.
Jerry Buss: Marketed the show within the show in Lakers Girls and pioneering Showtime Gave Magic a 25 year deal Hired LakerLifer Jerry West as Lakers GM after his '76-79 stint as Lakers coach, among many other former Laker player hires that he placed in prominent positions within the franchise Conclusion: one of the most successful franchise owners in sports history Jeanie Buss: Went to business school and ran the marketing/business end of the Lakers franchise while her brother kept her in the dark when it came to the basketball ops end of the franchise Spearheaded the legacy deal for Kobe securing him as a LakerLifer in a climate that favored star player turnover Hired LakerLifer Magic as team president, who also at some point was a part owner/share-holder of the Lakers and had a brief stint as Lakers coach Advocates another former Laker in Luke to remain as coach Conclusion: too soon to know, although some are all too eager to throw her and this FO under the buss for damn near following the same blueprint as Dr. Buss. Conclusion for this season alone: Injuries! Our top 3 guys have all went down for the count. What if Bron's grade 2 strain was a grade 1? What if Zo's grade 3 was a grade 1? What if Rondo only had one corrective procedure on his dominant hand instead of 2? Keep mind of our bubble size and to whom our injuries were to (ie our only legit allstar in Bron vs IT in Denver or Boogie in the Bay). Also keep mind of the teams we were chasing in the standings (Portland, Utah, cLips, SA...any of those teams have significant injuries to their core?)
the clippers traded away arguably their best player in Harris n still havent fallen of the rails like our team did....injuries are part of the gm, the team looked like complete a** most of the time when james was injured. Team construction isnt my gripe Jeanie, I think shes has made poor hiring choices just like Jim did with his coach hirings
-She hired Magic who had ZERO experience in this job ( because he's a friend of her) for the 2nd most important position in the organization without interviewing others candidates. If this is what a good business person do , there wouldn't be too many successful companies out there . By the way she hired Kurt Rambis back , guess what ... another of her friend . I won't even mention why she turned the great Jerry West down again . As for the one year deals , was it so difficult to keep Lopez and to sign the likes of Redick , Seth Curry , Napier or Ed Davis instead of the crap we did ?
I know you dont like James but this is the kind of crap I'm talking bout in regards to my critcism of Jeanie, making these rash decision is stupid. If anyone is to blame it should Magic for looking so foolish/desperate in those negotiations.
interesting article regarding the clippers potential move to inglewood https://www.silverscreenandroll.com...rest-inglewood-forum-jim-dolan-clippers-ballz
It's not her, its her business contacts who wanted to do that since MSG has invested a lot in the Forum and stands to lose money. Jeanie was just being cordial and being open to all possibilities after the Staples lease ends, which is what she should do. Seems like it's not going to happen, and all that really went down was she cracked some jokes at Ballmer's and the Clipper's expense. No harm done.
I don’t buy at all that Jeanie was going to trade Lebron. At most, she referenced it to make a point to Rich Paul, but don’t believe for a second that they were going to trade Lebron halfway through his first season with the franchise.
i think she probably just wanted to remind paul that this was supposed to be a partnership, and he went rogue during the AD saga, which hurt the team. i wouldn't be surprised if she reminded him that lebron doesn't have a no-trade clause, that he signed for 4 years, and that the atlanta hawks would love to have him. so, let's work together from now on, ok?
Couple that with Lebron's leverage of being the "Laker Messiah" severely diminished due to us probably having a worse record than we did last season without him, I actually am glad this happened. Even though she won't admit it, I'm sure she's a little perturbed at Magic for allowing the narrative to form that she is no longer in charge of her own franchise, and that Klutch Sports is running the show.
2 words: Ric Bucher Dude has a history...I implore yall to look it up! I can't remember the last time dude got a Laker rumor right...but the "Kobe will never wear a Laker jersey again" take is still a classic. Tell me this you guys, how does Klutch leaking the package benefit anybody on the Laker/Klutch side? Did Klutch leak where Bron was heading to in all his free agency "decisions"? Did Klutch hint at them pursuing AD or Dray before those dudes were linked to that agency late in the game? When Rich/Bron cover their mouths mafioso style, does that scream to y'all that those dudes leak detailed info? Magic/Rob have done this dance before with Paula and Kawhi...what was the final detailed package in those trade talks? Anybody know? Meanwhile, a loser of a FO like the Pels, who lost the patience of AD is now to be believed that they didn't leak info, when it benefitted them the most in upping potential offers this summer and they had their socials trolling the entire process in real time. I would be surprised that some Laker fans actually believe that narrative, but that was before this season. Ric vs Rich is an obvious choice in terms of insider info...but some fans just want to see what they want to see. Jeanie, the owner who wanted Magic/Rob to go get an all-star last season so that the Lakers could have representation while ASG was in LA, the owner who gave an Achilles impaired Kobe a legacy deal, suddenly wants to trade a future HOF star in the first year of his 4 year deal after years of striking out in free agency... All cause Ric said so. That's one heck of a conspiracy theory. Man...the summer can't come soon enough.
whether or not it's true, I loved hearing it in the press. A backhand for you, and a backhand for you. shut the hell up, stay in yo lane, play your role. You are not bigger than a billion dollar franchise. Your star is fading, no one besides 2nd tier players want to play with this douche, and we aren't any better for signing him. And yes, if we kept last year's roster and just improved a bit, we'd actually have a better record without Lebron on the team this year. truth hurts
I think ric is wrong, but that it's based on something--as I said above. Still think Boston leaked the fake details.
Everyone has a strong agenda here. Don't believe what you read necessarily. We all know Ric Bucher has been Pelinka's mouthpiece since the "Kobe will never wear a Lakers jersey again." It wasn't bad reporting, but that's what Pelinka was feeding him to get leverage. Perhaps Pelinka is sending a message to Rich Paul. Or maybe it's misinformation. Either way, we're not trading LeBron. If this experiment fails, it won't be for sure till LeBron's 3rd year, at which point he has a player option and is likely out of here anyways.
^^^^ You would learn Jeanie relies on Magic and ... Linda Rambis . Is it too late to root for the Clippers ?
