The Los Angeles Lakers are well positioned to make a serious run at a couple of the top marquee players in what's expected to be a strong free agency class that begins in a few days.
Following the Lakers' introductory press conference on Tuesday morning for a pair of their selections in the 2018 NBA Draft, team president of basketball operations Magic Johnson made the proclamation that he would step down from his position if the team didn't land any superstar talent over the next two summers. According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, it was a statement that had completely caught the organization off guard.
As for the ultimatum Magic Johnson put on himself today, nobody I talked to with the Lakers knew he was going to do that. Just chalked it up to his “competitiveness.”
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 26, 2018
There are a few ways that Johnson's comments can be taken about the presumptive timeline that he has placed on himself. It may show the utmost confidence that he can help the team land a top-tier talent in Los Angeles over the next couple of summers. Johnson has always been quite confident that things will work out in his favor, especially that is dealing with the team that he played for and now is responsible for shaping the future.
It is a situation there is much to be optimistic about given the Lakers are a unique position of having enough salary cap space to ink a pair of players to max contracts while possessing a group of promising talent on the roster. This could be enough to possibly sway the likes of LeBron James and Paul George to make the decision to team up in Los Angeles next season.
At the same time, Los Angeles has made it clear that not everything lies on what they will be able to do in this year's free agency but there is a great deal on the team to put forth a concerted effort make something happen. Ultimately, things have lined up for the Lakers to be well in the mix come free agency it's just a matter of the front office finally landing those top-tier players.
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