Getty Lonzo Ball and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers high five.
During Magic Johnson’s scorched earth interview with ESPN’s First Take this morning, he briefly peeled back the curtain on the dynamic between LeBron James and some of the team’s younger players. While many in the media felt James was personally trying to dump off the Lakers’ young talent for an immediate impact player, Johnson painted a vastly different picture.
Rather than being at odds with the young players, according to Magic, LeBron was an ideal leader and in particular, took Lonzo Ball under his wing.
Lakers’ LeBron James Mentoring Lonzo Ball On & Off Court, Says Magic
After shooting down any rumors that the Lakers are considering trading LeBron James, Magic laughed the question off.
First Take – “This guy is special. He has helped our young players so much. He has made Kyle Kuzma better, Brandon Ingram better. The way he approaches the game and practices, every player now is like ‘Wow. I have to get better’. I’ll tell you who he really took aside – Lonzo Ball.”
Unfortunately for Ball, he struggled with injuries in his sophomore campaign and we never got to see just how much he really developed over the offseason and under King James’ tutelage. During the brief time we did get to see Lonzo this season, he looked much more composed on the court offensively while turning into an absolute pest defensively. With long limbs, good size, and excellent lateral quickness, Ball has developed into one of the NBA’s premier perimeter defenders when healthy. While his scoring and assist numbers dropped, that was to be expected playing alongside James this season.
Kuzma and Ingram both struggled with injuries as well this year yet had their bright spots. Kuzma was extremely reliable as a floor-spacing power forward on the court with LeBron while Ingram finally emerged into the scoring weapon the Lakers envisioned when he was drafted.
Thankfully, Kuzma was able to remain healthy for the bulk of the season. Unfortunately, Ingram was forced to be shut down late in the year after a DVT scare. Blood clots wound up ending Chris Bosh‘s career and while Ingram, by all accounts, should be good to go and healthy next season, that might be worth keeping an eye on.
Lakers 2019-20 Biggest Team Needs
Aside from a clean bill of health, there are a number of areas where the Lakers could use some room for improvement. Thankfully, with only seven players under contract and nearly $43 million in cap space headed into the draft, the Lakers should be able to piece together a relatively complete basketball team. Currently, the most pressing need is to find a starting-caliber big man, with three-point shooting a close second. With only Mortiz Wagner on the roster able to effectively play center, the Lakers need considerable help down low.
Nothing against Wagner, who competed with a ton of heart down the stretch last season, but the Lakers will not win a championship, much less make the playoffs, with Wagner starting. A stretch big man with a decent feel for the game, Wagner lacks the athleticism to hang with elite centers and doesn’t rebound at a strong enough clip to justify playing huge minutes. While he should improve, Wagner is likely best used as a change of pace player off the bench for short periods of time.
While the Lakers are looking into marquee free agents, they might be better suited simply filling out a strong supporting cast around their existing young core. There should be some quality shooters and defenders on the market and with so much money to spend, the Lakers should be able to pick and choose exactly who they need.
Although the season went down in flames the Lakers actually looked like a playoff team in the Western Conference when healthy. The continued development from their young core (if they can stay healthy) should at least have them back on the right track. Last season was a bit of an anomaly from the injury standpoint, so don’t be surprised to see the Lakers roll out a similar lineup (with some new supporting members) that far outperforms last season’s banged up unit.