You would have to go back to when Magic Johnson was playing for the Los Angeles Lakers to arguably find an NBA trade on par with the Lakers’ bombshell acquisition of Luka Doncic. Johnson came to the Lakers in 1979, just a few years after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Lakers.
So Magic Johnson knows a thing or two about blockbuster NBA trades, which is why his first reaction to Luka Doncic coming to Los Angeles is sure to catch Lakers fans attention.
Johnson took to social media on Sunday to predict that Doncic will bring the Lakers back to championship contention, sooner rather than later.
“Luka Doncic will definitely make the Lakers a championship-contending team. He’ll take the pressure off of LeBron because of his scoring ability and playmaking and will make every Laker better!” Johnson posted. “LeBron James will be a positive influence on Luka, teaching him his championship mentality that includes taking his conditioning seriously.”
That post was just one in a series of posts Johnson made reacting to the biggest NBA trade in the past 20 years or so. In fact, Johnson admitted that he’s never seen anything like this in quite some time.
“I’ve been associated with the NBA for 45 years and this Luka and AD trade is the biggest trade I’ve seen between two superstars essentially in their prime!” Johnson continued. “With Luka, the Lakers are getting a 25 year old superstar; this is a great long-term move for the Lakers franchise after LeBron retires.”
Lakers’ next move after Luka Doncic trade
Following the Doncic acquisition, the Lakers are kind of an unbalanced team. While Doncic is no doubt a superstar and generational talent, the move seems to create more holes on the Lakers’ roster in the immediacy.
Even with Davis on the roster, the Lakers were thin in the frontcourt due to injuries and roster imbalance. Following the deal, the Lakers no longer have a starting caliber center on the team. Jaxson Hayes has been the Lakers’ starting center in games that Davis missed, but he is best suited to coming off the bench.
In the series of tweets that Johnson posted in response to the trade, he mentioned what the Lakers next move has to be before the NBA trade deadline.
“And with this Luka trade, the Lakers definitely need a big man,” Johnson said with a laughing emoji.
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 6, and the Lakers are reportedly still in the market for a big man.