A key failure during Magic Johnson's brief tenure as Los Angeles Lakers president was his inability to swing a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis.
Now Johnson, 60, is fessing up to the idea that the failure to acquire Davis led to his downfall. Johnson resigned from his executive position within the Lakers organization in a sudden press conference last April — telling reporters he was stepping down prior to actually telling team owner Jeanie Buss.
According to Johnson, he would have stayed in his role with the Lakers had they successfully pulled off the trade for AD during the February 2019 trade deadline.
.@RealSkipBayless: What if you had pulled off the AD trade at the trade deadline, would you still be in power?@MagicJohnson: I'd still be there of course. And I could have the coaches I wanted. Everything would've fallen into place. We would've had an even better shot at Kawhi. pic.twitter.com/21bwg5T1uI
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) October 25, 2019
The Lakers, of course, would end up trading for Davis in June prior to the 2019 NBA Draft.
After restructuring the New Orleans front office and bringing in David Griffin as executive vice president and key basketball decision-maker, the Pelicans finally agreed to a lucrative trade with L.A.. They sent Davis for four first-round picks, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart.
When Johnson resigned last April, he stated his frustration with the direction of the franchise and how unhappy he felt at the time despite signing LeBron James — unarguably the most recognizable player in the NBA.
Who knows how the Lakers would look had Davis arrived in Hollywood last February to join LeBron — maybe free agency would have shaken out differently, too.
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