The Los Angeles Lakers made changes to their front office earlier this season to change their direction and have a fresh start to their quest of becoming a winning team once again. It started with firing Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak as Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager, respectively. They have since been replaced with Laker great Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka.
Team president Jeanie Buss, who was recently granted lifetime control of the Lakers, apparently did not like the moves her brother planned back in January to try to save his job.
It was clear that the team would not part ways with their young core, but Jim reportedly still pushed for a trade to bring in Atlanta Hawks All-Star forward Paul Millsap in exchange for some of them, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.
His sister stopped him from pulling the trigger on a potential deal, which many also believe led to his firing.
“At the same time, Jim was making moves that Jesse interpreted as mortgaging the Lakers' future to save his job. In early January, he heard the Lakers had been discussing trades for veteran players — like Atlanta's Paul Millsap — that involved giving up several of the team's young players.”
“I emailed Joey and Jeanie: ‘This is the time where you need to step in!'” Jesse says. “The next day, she sent an email to everyone saying, ‘If any trades being discussed include our young players, please notify me so I can sign off.'”
It is quite surprising to hear Millsap's name linked to the Lakers, especially because another Paul has been consistently rumored to be the team's target. A California native, Paul George is a player who some people are predicting to return home as early as this summer, and join the team he rooted for growing up.
With Johnson and Pelinka now at the helm, big decisions are expected come summertime with free agency and the direction the storied franchise. They will need to decide if they will remain patient or try to turnaround their fortunes immediately by adding big name free agents.
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