Lakers Rumors: Magic Johnson Ignored Pleas to Re-Sign Brook Lopez, Julius Randle

[Bosnian Sajo]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2825018-lakers-rumors-magic-johnson-ignored-pleas-to-re-sign-brook-lopez-julius-randle


Brook Lopez and Julius Randle are enjoying productive seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans, respectively, but the Los Angeles Lakers' coaching staff reportedly wanted President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson to keep them in purple and gold.

According to Bill Oram of The Athletic, Johnson "ignored the pleas of the coaching staff that he retain" the two bigs following the signing of LeBron James and instead added JaVale McGee, Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson.

The report comes amid speculation surrounding the future of head coach Luke Walton, with Oram noting that firing Walton "would cause considerable heartburn for officials within the organization who, according to team sources, continue to advocate for him."


There is more to the article in the link.



Mother ****er. Mother ****ing ****er....these two players would have made a world of difference for us this year. What they brought to the team last year (which won 35 games without James while still being injured, mind you) was EXACTLY what we missed this year. And the Superstar we have this year is exactly what we needed last year.


****ing Magic Johnson, ladies and gents.


Ball/Rondo
Ingram/Hart
Lebron/KCP
Randle/Kuz
Lopez/Zub

Both of the bigs can knock down 3's, Randle is imo the strongest NBA player in the league...dude is tough as nails, Lopez averages 2 blocks per game. ****ING HELL!!!

[Bosnian Sajo]

Brook Lopez when asked about Lakers not reaching out to offer him a contract:


“I was a little surprised. It just didn’t end up working out. It kind of went in one direction pretty quickly. From that point, I was looking at other options. … I mean, I would have wanted to play there. But that being said, I’m happy that this worked out the way it did because it’s the best situation possible. Even comparable to playing there this season. Far and away, this season in Milwaukee has gone so well. The group we have here, the players, the staff, and the opportunity to do some big things. It’s such a great situation to be in.”

https://www.lakersnation.com/brook-lopez-surprised-lakers-effort-re-sign-free-agency/2019/03/01/

MOTHER......****ER......BUT ITS OK GUYS, MAGIC GOT US MCGEE AND MIKE MUSCALA...WE'RE FINE.

[LAmbruh]

No shit

Luke/Magic refused to give Randle starting spot last year through the 1st half and let Deng start on season opener. Julius hated playing as a Laker, noone respected him and focussed all the attention to D'lo/Ingram/Ball

Lopez is light years better than McGee/Chandler/Beasley combined

This is the worst Lakers constructed roster since mid-90's

[FreezingTsmoove]

Worst GM in the league no question :facepalm

[chains5000]

While Magic is far from a great GM, the decision on letting Randle and Lopez leave cannot be evaluated until next offseason ends.

[Bosnian Sajo]

Julius Randle on not getting an offer from the Lakers:


Q: By the time last summer rolled around, were you surprised by the way things ended with the Lakers? That you didn’t end up re-signing?

A: Nope. Not at all.

Q: Why do you think it ended the way it did?

A: It was just a situation where we had a whole new GM and front office, pretty much, that came in and wanted to make their mark, and do things that they wanted to do, and do it their way. So I was here before they came, and they had a whole new regime, or whatever, and plans they had their way, of how they wanted to do it. And that’s perfectly fine. I totally understand it. Those guys are having great success, and I’m happy for them. I’m happy for my teammates, and all that type of stuff, but it’s just a situation where I knew it was time to move on.



Man I had Magics back once he signed Lebron, I thought this man could do no wrong...I truly hope he can fix it this offseason. Not losing hope just yet, but MAN does that bleacher report article sting. Everyone with a quarter of a brain knew how much just one of Lopez/Randle would have helped us this season, let alone both of em.

[Vino24]

Magic has no idea wtf he is doing :oldlol:

[Bosnian Sajo]

No shit

Luke/Magic refused to give Randle starting spot last year through the 1st half and let Deng start on season opener. Julius hated playing as a Laker, noone respected him and focussed all the attention to D'lo/Ingram/Ball

Lopez is light years better than McGee/Chandler/Beasley combined

This is the worst Lakers constructed roster since mid-90's

No you ****ing idiot, Luke wanted him back. This article has nothing to do with Luke NOT wanting Randle, it has everything to do with him and his college homies staff WANTING HIM BACK.

[AirTupac]

But it was Randle who wanted more playing time.....

[Bosnian Sajo]

While Magic is far from a great GM, the decision on letting Randle and Lopez leave cannot be evaluated until next offseason ends.


Considering Lopez was available for a 1 year deal and Randle signed only a 2 year deal (with a player option that he will absolutely decline), I think it's safe to say the decision on letting them go can absolutely be evaluated right this second.


Dream scenario this offseason would be to pickup one more star and get Randle back....Idk if Lopez would ever want to come back, but I'd welcome him with open arms.

[chains5000]

Considering Lopez was available for a 1 year deal and Randle signed only a 2 year deal (with a player option that he will absolutely decline), I think it's safe to say the decision on letting them go can absolutely be evaluated right this second.


Dream scenario this offseason would be to pickup one more star and get Randle back....Idk if Lopez would ever want to come back, but I'd welcome him with open arms.
Didn't know about Lopez's current contract.
As for Randle, I don't know what happened, but I bet he was looking for a longer deal, which the Lakers would not have offered him.

[iamgine]

Rumors are facts now?

[bison]

Julius Randle on not getting an offer from the Lakers:




Man I had Magics back once he signed Lebron, I thought this man could do no wrong...I truly hope he can fix it this offseason. Not losing hope just yet, but MAN does that bleacher report article sting. Everyone with a quarter of a brain knew how much just one of Lopez/Randle would have helped us this season, let alone both of em.

I'm still at a level point with Magic. He made some great moves in the summer, notably drafting Kuzma, getting rid of the Deng/Mozgov contracts, and of course landing Lebron. Things were looking up for a while until other questionable signings started to begin: letting Lopez walk, signing an awkward cast of misfits in McGee/Rondo/Beasley/Lance, the whole AD trade deadline fiasco and inexplicably giving Zubac away for Muscruba. Now we are exactly where we were last year after 66 games: 30-36. So essentially we made no progress, but we didn't regress either. Kuzma, Lonzo, Ingram have all stepped up their progress, lots of one year deals to dump plus we still have loads of cap space. Lets just hope they are healthy next year.

[MrFonzworth]

Good. Couldn't have happened to a shittier franchise with a shittier fanbase.

[bison]

Also no one knew Randle would be a 20/10 beast at the start of last season. People have short memories/recency bias, but he had been pretty average/unimpressive up to the 2017-18 season. I guess really only Randle knew, and the bridge was burned well before last summer. The writing was on the wall and there wasn't much the front office could do by the end of the season.

[bullettooth]

Also no one knew Randle would be a 20/10 beast at the start of last season. People have short memories/recency bias, but he had been pretty average/unimpressive up to the 2017-18 season. I guess really only Randle knew, and the bridge was burned well before last summer. The writing was on the wall and there wasn't much the front office could do by the end of the season.

Lakers didn't notice his potential?

[kennethgriffen]

i'm sure if lebron advocated they keep those 2 guys they would have. lebron wanted his friends rondo/beasley/lance/mcgee though

not enough money to go around

[Akrazotile]

Brook Lopez when asked about Lakers not reaching out to offer him a contract:



https://www.lakersnation.com/brook-lopez-surprised-lakers-effort-re-sign-free-agency/2019/03/01/

MOTHER......****ER......BUT ITS OK GUYS, MAGIC GOT US MCGEE AND MIKE MUSCALA...WE'RE FINE.


He got you 1 yr contracts, genius. That means more free agents are coming.

With most teams that would simply be wishful thinking. With Lebron its a well orchestrated plan as proven by history.

Unbunch your panties.

[E_Stamkos]

Also no one knew Randle would be a 20/10 beast at the start of last season. People have short memories/recency bias, but he had been pretty average/unimpressive up to the 2017-18 season. I guess really only Randle knew, and the bridge was burned well before last summer. The writing was on the wall and there wasn't much the front office could do by the end of the season.

I personally found him underwhelming up until last year. I often questioned his read for the game and looked upon him as a low IQ player.

But there were many a nights last season where he looked like the best player on the court. He started coming into his own and proved he could dominate during stretches.

For whatever reason Magic/Pelinka didn't see him in the cards going forward. They didn't wanna pay him... Perhaps they envisioned Lebron sucking up most the minutes at the 4 and didn't believe Julius was a fit at the 5.

Buh

[PP34Deuce]

Book is slow and they wanted to go fast
Randle is a pure small ball 4 which conflicts with Bron. Plus he wants to get PAID.

People keep talking about Magic but fail to recognize that Pelinka makes a lot of the calls. Magic OK's things but he also relies on Pelinka's intel and connections to do things.

[lilteapot]

i mean this makes sense if they wanted cap space in 2019 to sign free agents. in hindsight its an awful move.

[scuzzy]

i mean this makes sense if they wanted cap space in 2019 to sign free agents. in hindsight its an awful move.
It's an awful move, could've resigned Randle with KCP money

Lopez and Randle were the entity to LAL's 35 wins last year while Ingram/Lonzo were nursing injuries half the season

[PP34Deuce]

It's an awful move, could've resigned Randle with KCP money

Lopez and Randle were the entity to LAL's 35 wins last year while Ingram/Lonzo were nursing injuries half the season


Randle wants to get paid. KCP got 12 million, Randle is wanting 20-25M a year.

[qrich]

Randle wanted out, and would possibly have caused chemistry issues had they kept him and not paid/played him what he wanted. Can't fully blame the front office on that one, however, believe they could have received something in a S&T instead of letting him go to sign Rondo.

BroLo on the other end made no damn sense. Dudes game is perfect for a LeBron led team. Can hit the three, isn't a horrible defender and does great at boxing out. Plus, he didn't want much money!

[Bosnian Sajo]

Also no one knew Randle would be a 20/10 beast at the start of last season. People have short memories/recency bias, but he had been pretty average/unimpressive up to the 2017-18 season. I guess really only Randle knew, and the bridge was burned well before last summer. The writing was on the wall and there wasn't much the front office could do by the end of the season.


Uhhh, we knew. Last year he averaged 19ppg/9rpg the 2nd half of the season when given the starting nod (50 games). He showed his potential. We all were ify about him coming into the season, correct, but he proved himself and we traded Larry Nance BECAUSE he proved himself.


Magic ****ed that up. As for posters saying "Randle wanted to get paid", he took a 2yr 18m contract with Pelicans....I'm SURE he would have been just fine taking the KCP contract for a year.


Can't believe we resigned that scrub KCP.

[BallsOut]

Also no one knew Randle would be a 20/10 beast at the start of last season. People have short memories/recency bias, but he had been pretty average/unimpressive up to the 2017-18 season. I guess really only Randle knew, and the bridge was burned well before last summer. The writing was on the wall and there wasn't much the front office could do by the end of the season.


Bullshit. I knew it. Lots of Lakers fan knew Randle would be a 20/10 big in this league. He was putting up like 18/9 in limited minutes. It's not that hard to project.

Would've much rather had Julius+Lopez than Pope+Beasley. In Magic's defense, nobody thought KCP would fall off a cliff this season.

Still can't forgive him for trading Zubac away for peanuts.

[PickernRoller]

I remember when I sounded the alarms about f@gg0t Magic fvcking us up... I remember the mods closing those threads as well...

This motherfvcker is burning our franchise to the ground, along with Genie. Bran's just the product of their ineptitude.

[ImKobe]

Lakers didn't notice his potential?

He was fat and out of shape the previous season, so obviously there would be worries that he would get his big contract and revert to his old self, also he doesn't fit next to Lebron as a non-shooting forward and if we paid him 10+mil it would obviously not give us a chance to sign another max player. I think Lebron signing here had a huge effect on not re-signing Randle, and let's be honest, he's averaging decent numbers in NO but he did not impact their W/L record from last year, even before AD said he was out.

This roster wins more than 30 something games if we sign PG instead of Bron and keep Randle & Lopez.

Props to Julius though, he's improved his game this season offensively, actually shoots a couple threes and has a decent 3PT%. He has a player option for next season, but he'll probably waive that and get a multi-year deal.

[Hey Yo]

I remember when I sounded the alarms about f@gg0t Magic fvcking us up... I remember the mods closing those threads as well...

This motherfvcker is burning our franchise to the ground, along with Genie. Bran's just the product of their ineptitude.
LOL @ claiming to be a Lakers fan. All you've done is celebrate their losses this season.

You're a fraud, Chico.

[PickernRoller]

.

Nikka the only thing you've ever known in life is svcking Bran's c0ck, and being tied to my leash. You have no leg or limb to stand on and talk sh1t. You've been a bonafide retard since March 2014.

Stay melting...

[bladefd]

Book is slow and they wanted to go fast
Randle is a pure small ball 4 which conflicts with Bron. Plus he wants to get PAID.

People keep talking about Magic but fail to recognize that Pelinka makes a lot of the calls. Magic OK's things but he also relies on Pelinka's intel and connections to do things.

McGee's offense is limited compared to Lopez. I wish we could have Lopez/McGee duo at center.. Lopez should start though and McGee provide 20mpg like his Warriors days off bench. Lopez is a great shotblocker too on the defensive end so that offsets McGee playing fewer minutes.

It's clear Chandler experiment hasn't worked due to no offense and injuries. I would not bring him back next year. I would try to get Lopez back with bit more money if AD trade doesn't work out.

[BANE?]

I can buy this being true. All you have to do is look at Magic

[Bosnian Sajo]

He got you 1 yr contracts, genius. That means more free agents are coming.

With most teams that would simply be wishful thinking. With Lebron its a well orchestrated plan as proven by history.

Unbunch your panties.


When has a Lebron team ever signed a star free agent? I'll wait.


IF it happens, of course it will be a good thing, but if we go by history like you said....then it's not happening. This of course is a different circumstance but the AD trade talks and the depleted chemistry on this roster atm does not help.