The Los Angeles Lakers are entering an important offseason in which they will look to build the right roster around Luka Doncic and LeBron James to become true championship contenders. Many have opinions on what the franchise should do this summer, and that includes the greatest point guard of all-time Magic Johnson.
The Lakers legend has always been one to speak freely about what he believes the franchise should do and this offseason is no different. Johnson appeared on ESPN’s Get Up and praised Doncic for getting into better shape before breaking down what he feels the team needs to do to become a championship-level team:
“Well first of all, great job by coach JJ Redick to put everybody on notice on the Lakers team that they have to be in better condition for them to win an NBA Championship. And I’m glad that Luka listened to JJ, and now look at him. He looks great right now and the rest of the Lakers have to do the same thing. And Luka, it’s great what you did in Dallas, but the difference is, in Los Angeles, we expect championships and we expect our superstars to lead us to a championship. LeBron has already did that, now we want Luka to do the same thing. But it’s gonna take more than just Luka. It’s gonna take more than just Luka being in shape. Rob Pelinka has gotta improve the roster. We need a big man and so hopefully we’ll be able to get a big man during this offseason. I think we must improve the bench as well, and so Rob will have a chance to do that as well. We gotta get faster. Right now, the Lakers are too slow and Minnesota really exposed the Lakers. When they had individual matchups, they went at Luka and they went at Austin Reaves, so they must improve the defense. If they don’t improve the defense, it’s no way the Lakers can win a championship.”
The playoffs certainly exposed the Lakers’ faults and the pressure is on Rob Pelinka to improve those issues this summer. Ultimately, all eyes will be on James and Doncic, and Johnson feels they must embrace that:
“They have to take on that mindset, it is them two against the world. Kareem and I used to say it’s us against the world and we didn’t mind that, we embraced that. We went out and said bring it on, and so him and LeBron gotta say hey, we gotta get together and say it’s us against the world, but we need other guys to help us win the championship. All you have to do is look at these playoffs right now and these Finals. SGA is not playing by hisself. Haliburton is not playing by hisself. You need four other guys. And last night you saw eight guys actually help the Pacers win that game last night. So if the Lakers are going to win a championship, it’s gonna take more than just Luka and LeBron. Now they must play at a superstar level, yes we understand that, but they need help. So, we need a center, an athletic center, and then we need some other pieces to help put LeBron and Luka in a comfortable situation, in a situation that they know that they can win a championship.”
This offseason is shaping up to be an action-packed one across the entire NBA and the Lakers will have to make the right moves if they hope to keep pace in the extremely competitive Western Conference. Doncic and James will lead the way and if Pelinka and the front office can build the right roster around them, the Lakers will be ready to take on anybody.
Lakers’ legend Magic Johnson’s NBA Finals prediction holding true
Prior to the start of the NBA Finals Lakers legend Magic Johnson made a prediction that the series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers would be much closer than people thought.
With Thunder in five being the prevailing belief throughout the basketball world, Johnson saw things going differently and he has proven to be right.
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