The Los Angeles Lakers have an ongoing streak of disarray, dating back to the time when former president of basketball operations Magic Johnson was at the helm of the front office.
According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, the disconnect between Johnson and governing owner Jeanie Buss could have stemmed from a leak of the trade package the Lakers would have given up for star big man Anthony Davis.
“According to someone familiar with the situation, the disconnect stems back to the trade deadline. Johnson apparently offered the New Orleans Pelicans more in a trade for All-Star forward Anthony Davis (notably Lonzo Ball) than had been communicated with Buss…
“Buss later called the notion the team would give up that much in a trade “fake news,” and Johnson on Monday blamed former Pelicans general manager Dell Demps for leaking the names.”
The originally reported trade would have sent Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac to the New Orleans Pelicans, along with struggling shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Article Continues BelowJohnson said on ESPN's First Take that he intended to do the deal with Demps privately, but the latter went back on his word and leaked it.
“Let's just do it in private. Well, Dell didn't do that, so that's how it got out,” said Johnson on Monday.
According to Pincus, some believe that Johnson was also partly responsible for some of the leaks, as the only other party that knew the full extent of what was offered in exchange for Davis.
Ultimately, Johnson decided to part ways with the team and call it quits before the last regular season game, leaving Buss to once again knit her torn circle of trust.