Analysis: Lakers have opportunity to open new chapter

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.

The Los Angeles Lakers already had plenty of problems to fix during the summer after their sixth straight losing season.

Replacing the person in charge of fixing those problems is suddenly at the top of the list.

Magic Johnson’s shocking resignation as the 16-time NBA champions’ president of basketball operations Tuesday night compounded the turmoil that always seems to envelop the Lakers, who remain among the most talked-about sports franchises in the world even though they haven’t made the playoffs since 2013.

Owner Jeanie Buss unveiled no immediate plan Wednesday for the basketball leadership of the Lakers — perhaps understandably, since she had no idea she needed a plan 18 hours earlier.

Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka and coach Luke Walton all skipped the Lakers’ customary exit interviews on the morning after their season ended, instead leaving it to their players to characterize yet another bizarre year in Lakerland.

Yet Buss must have realized by now that Magic’s abrupt departure creates an opportunity.

With her sentimental favorite gone and no clear successor in sight, Buss has a chance to sever the staid, tradition-bound mentality lingering around the Lakers from her father’s ownership tenure.

Last summer, the Lakers added LeBron James. This summer, they could add a new way of thinking.

Whether Buss wants that opportunity is the biggest question she faces.

Shortly after Johnson’s surprise announcement, Buss huddled with advisers including Pelinka. Kobe Bryant’s former agent joined the Lakers’ front office with Johnson in 2017 when Buss installed two executives with no prior experience in their jobs, but great emotional appeal to Buss herself.

That’s the same type of sentimental thinking that convinced Buss to keep her brother, Jim, and GM Mitch Kupchak in charge several years into the Lakers’ decline — a grace period Jeanie Buss says she now regrets.

But with Magic gone from a job that required too much of his time and not enough of his personal strengths, Buss has the chance to reimagine her entire front office.

She could hire a hungry executive to bring cutting-edge ideas into the Lakers’ insular culture. Innovative ex-Cleveland GM David Griffin is an obvious choice, but there are many others who wouldn’t be bound by the unrealistic expectations and dewy-eyed attachments created by the Lakers’ many trophies.

Buss’ easiest path would be a promotion for Pelinka, the scripture-quoting GM who favors tight suits and long-winded, folksy stories. But Johnson gave a lukewarm endorsement of Pelinka on his way out the door, and Pelinka has ruffled feathers around the league with his communication style in his first team job.