Ahead of media day on Monday, Magic Johnson and GM Rob Pelinka had a sit down with members of the media about the state of the Lakers.
Obviously, this season is different than any recent ones because of the addition of LeBron James, expectations are high, and Johnson said this is as excited as he has been in many years about the Lakers, but he still preached patience.
“As I was talking to Luke [with GM Rob Pelinka], we said don’t worry about if we get out to a bad start,” Johnson, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, said Thursday as the team’s brass met with the media. “We have seen that with LeBron [James] going to Miami, and we have seen that when he came back to Cleveland. He is going to struggle because there are so many new moving parts. But eventually we are going to get it, and we are going to be really a good team.”
Johnson and Pelinka went on to speak about the Lakers depth and that being the key if you plan to compete against teams like the Warriors, Rockets, and Celtics for a championship.
The question begs how will it all meshed when asked if he was worried about all the interesting personalities clashing Johnson succinctly said: “if I thought they would clash I wouldn’t have signed them.”
There were questions about Lonzo Ball’s health and what was to be expected from year one to year two and Johnson said we should see a breakout year from the Lakers 2nd pick in last year’s draft.
Here is what Johnson and Pelinka said about Lonzo tweaking his shot.
“We didn’t want to bother him [his shot],” Johnson said Thursday at the Lakers’ practice facility. “I think he decided to do that on his own.”
“And, man, it is beautiful,” Johnson said.
“We explained that this is going to be the most important offseason, and while he could be on the court, his shot looked great. He is going to be ready to have a breakout season and build on what he did last season, because it was only a couple of things he had to do better, and that was driving to the basket, finish and get the midrange in terms of getting his shot where he is on balance. It is not his shot. He just has to be on balance. … I am excited for Lonzo, and he is going to be fine.”
“I think his shot looks incredible,” Pelinka said. “He was here every day. He was one of the most committed guys this offseason. … The way he’s shooting the ball looks a lot more fluid now.
“One of the things about his college metrics is he was an outstanding 3-point shooter,” Pelinka added of Ball, who shot 41.2 percent from 3-point range in one season at UCLA. “With this team, with so many different ball handlers, I think that’s a strength for him. If he pushes it ahead to someone and runs and fills a spot, and he’s a catch-and-shoot player, he’s going to have the ability, I think, to be a good shooter.”
Lonzo has been 100% cleared by team doctors, but Lakers will be holding him out of 5-on-5 scrimmages for the time being.
I did a poll on if fans thought the Lakers would win over 50 games this year and here was the result. Most fans are feeling very confident.
Lakers Over/Under 50 wins this season.
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) September 20, 2018