Sunday, May 8th, 2011 at 10:24 am  |  85 responses

Magic Johnson: ‘[Jerry Buss is] Going to Have to Blow This Team Up’

by Adam Figman

Assuming the Lakers can’t come back from the 3-0 hole they find themselves in this morning, the team’s management will have some serious decisions to make this summer. Can they keep the entire team intact and compete next season, with the likes of the Thunder, Heat and Bulls improving by the day (and the Celtics and Mavs likely to still be very relevant)?

And if not, what’s the next move? Who goes? Who stays?

Magic Johnson thinks he knows what team owner Jerry Buss needs to do: Blow the whole damn roster up (minus Kobe Bryant) and start over.

His rationale is explained in the L.A. Times:

The Lakers great argued as an ESPN NBA analyst Saturday that the Lakers, and owner Jerry Buss, will need to make serious changes to their veteran-heavy roster during the off-season. Johnson’s most pointed suggestion involved the Lakers’ trading for Dwight Howard, even if it means giving up Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom.

“Dr. Buss has a lot of work to do,” said [Magic] Johnson. “He’s probably going to have to blow this team up after the season if the Lakers lose this series because you have to come back with some fresh faces. You have to pick between the two big men with which one you keep and then you trade the other one.”

Johnson didn’t aim his criticism solely at the Lakers’ front line, arguing that everybody outside of Kobe Bryant should be considered trade bait in what will be an uncertain off-season. In addition to the strong possibility Dallas will eliminate the Lakers, the 2010-11 season will be the last for Coach Phil Jackson. Reserves Matt Barnes and Shannon Brown can exercise player options to stay next season, with Barnes telling The Times’ Mike Bresnahan in March he planned to do that and Brown conceding he’s open to opting out. And of course, the cloud surrounding the league’s expiring collective bargaining agreement on June 30 weighs heavily on all NBA teams.

…

“The Lakers have two problems,” said Johnson, who sold his 4.5% ownership stake in the Lakers to billionaire season ticket-holder Patrick Soon-Shiong in October but has kept his title as vice president. “They’re too slow and they have no athletes. This is an athletic league now. When you think about all the teams that are in the playoffs right now, they all can run fast and jump high.

“Sometimes you can be together too long,” he continued. “This group has been probably together too long.”

Of course, all of this is assuming the Lakers don’t ride back right into the series and get their comeback on. Which is almost definitely not going to happen, but at this point, you’d really bet against Kobe Bryant?

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  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    A 36 point closeout facial. Blow it up baby!

  • http://slamonline BossTerry

    122-86. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…Eff L.A. well done Dallas!

  • http://Www.fiba.com Darksaber

    In the distinct style of how Slamonline likes to reference Stephen Jackson:
    WOOOOOOOOOOH!
    (nice cheapshots, “champs”. Now fly back home in shame!)
    Hey Matt Barnes; way to punk them Mavs this year!

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ImCpNqbJw IAMORANGE4EVER

    Andrew Bynum needs to get elbowed in the face for what he did to JJ. Real talk.

  • tonyknorr

    no worries hammer those were my thoughts exactly anyways and its slam’s fault they are always messing things up with my posts and many other peoples as well.

  • mike

    SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

  • mike

    What a joke Phil and Kobe are right now.

  • mike

    Kobe: “The funny thing is I still think we can win.”
    Reporter: “Kobe, they just won Game 4.”
    Kobe: “I still think we can do it.”

  • http://ZOGS.COM ZOGS

    MEMPHISSSS MY NEW TEAM BABY!!!!!!

    LETS BREAK IT DOWN FO REAL THO, IF BOSTON BEATS MIAMI ITS BOSTON FOR THE RING; VICE VERSA

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    ^ The Lakers getting swept by Dallas and losing by 36 points today doesn’t make Phil and Kobe a joke man. All the rings they got, they played a huge role in earning. It’s not like they just fell into chips like Robert Horry.

  • http://ZOGS.COM ZOGS

    @MIKE
    LOOOOL THAT S**TS FUNNY BRO, BUT SERIOUSLY STFU KOBES MY BOY

  • http://ZOGS.COM ZOGS

    *****AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT RELIZES THAT ALL THESE “LAKERS” FANS HAVE SUDDENTLY DISAPPEARED AND TURNED INTO HATERS** SMH!!!!!

  • robz

    ask mj to return…damn

  • robz

    and play for lakers

  • robz

    oh and scottie to build lakers team

  • George

    I think as a devoted lakers fan, bynum should go. Bynum is inconsistent in his game. In game 3, the bench were doing really good, he created a foul, phil want him out But he refused, instead odom was benched! All the frustrations we can feel it as a fan, how much more with his teamate, spec. when he open his big mouth criticizing his team. Bynum doesn’t earn his salary. His conduct in game 4 is embarassing to the laker ownership, staff, players & laker fans. Karem DID NOT train him like that!!!!!!!

  • http://Slamonline.com Datkid

    I thought magic was going a little far too..maybe not now tho

  • this guy

    Yeah sorry but laker people are on drugs if they think that pau, bynum, and odom(combined) are worth as much as dwight. Please, bynum is glued to the floor, pau is wimpy, odom is alright, but I mean if you look at the numbers I guess you’d think that trade would work, but Dwight is a superstar. Orlando already ruined things by trading vince and rashard away. Basically by himself dwight can make a team good. If the lakers hadn’t won rings, noone would talk about bynum and pau. They’d be average big men.

  • Josh

    Probably one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. This team went to the last three finals and won the last two championships. Are you kidding me? You don’t give this team some credit? This team is still one of the best, we just need to get smarter on defense and have our second best player play like Pau and not Powell.
    Seriously you have no memory whatsoever. Why don’t we revisit all the idiots talking about Boston after they won, they were done right away right? Stupidity.

  • Mvp23100

    Man I’m pissed I didn’t get a chance to WITNESS 24 bow out like a b*tch

  • http://slamonline.com The Ambassador

    LOL did anyone notice that Magic wanted to cry lol his eyes were all watery!!!

  • http://slamonline.com Tae

    Being a die hard Lakers fan i was hurt by tha loss, but more for Phil. And magic is trippin. I wouldnt get rid of any of tha starters, or odom, wtf? We need a new bench thou

  • MikeC.

    I don’t think Odom’s hit on Dirk was that bad. Cheap? Yes. Dirty? No. Should have been a flagrant 1, no ejection, no suspension needed. Bynum’s hit on JJ was much worse. At least Odom picked on someone bigger than him. Bynum was the biggest guy in the series and went after the smallest guy. That’s mad weak.

  • Fat Lever

    I bet Kobe wishes he could really place a rookie MJ on the Lakers now, huh?

  • http://www.smartballer.org SMARTBALLER

    There were signs something was ‘off’ with this Lakers team throughout the season. The overly relaxed attitude of some players we saw in the first 82 games carried over to the Playoffs. The Lakers simply got outworked, and outhustled by a hungrier team with a deeper bench. Sad to see..it would have been nice to see Lakers/Heat or another Lakers/Celts showdown as Phil’s swan song.

  • r2j

    If they don’t get Dwight Howard then it’s gonna be a long time before they get another title. Welcome to the NBA L.A. Lakers.

  • http://kb24.com DreXnaW21

    the day Lakers got swept is the day i got my Kobe VI shoes smh… maybe i should return them for an Air Jordan shoe instead?? lol Nike store ftw :P

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Did y’all see the stat that said Magic was swept from the playoffs twice after winning championships? He got some nerve…

  • dma

    Dwight will get traded for weak ass Brook Lopez. The Lakers will be lucky to get an all star back if they traded Bynum

  • http://slamonline.com GlobeTrotter

    would love to see them trade odom, bynum and another bench player or two for howard and arenas….maybe artest can resurrect the soul of agent zero?

  • Waskito

    Kobe is no MJ. Period. Three peat repeat is only for His Airness.

  • KobesBestFriend

    Kobe was the only 1 playing hard out there…MJ wouldn’t have 3-peated with this soft a$s cast of teammates either…its a wonder how these bums made it to 3 straight finals in the 1st place!it just goes to show you how good kobe and phil really are!

  • http://entelleckt.com/ entelleckt

    @KobesBestFriend that’s very debatable unless you’re talking about Wizards MJ or ’94-95 MJ (fresh out of the 1st retirement).

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    The Lakers go ‘all in’ for Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to play alongside Kobe????

    ^_^

  • john

    lol at the dude calling dwight slow, you wear a helmet when you go out?

    hey espn and laker turds, we aren’t going to give you dwight for gasoft and odom or old man knees. GET IT IN YOUR HEAD THE NBA DOESNT REVOLVE AROUND YOU BEING GOOD EVERY YEAR. SUCK IT

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