Los Angeles Lakers partying like its Showtime in 1980
It didn't take long for Magic Johnson, the Los Angeles Lakers new President of Basketball Operations to make moves, trading D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov, to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Brook Lopez and the rights to Kyle Kuzma, the 27th pick in the 2017 NBA draft.
By trading Mozgov, the Lakers were able to free up cap space by parting ways with the remaining 48 million dollars left on his contract.
Two things are clear, for one that Johnson is interested in building the Lakers around their 2017 2nd overall pick, UCLA standout Lonzo Ball, and two that he didn't see Russell as a cornerstone for this franchise, stating " I am looking for a leader..."
Russell has the talent to become an All-Star, but I believe that NBA executives and players will not be able to cultivate a strong rapport with him due to the fact that he surreptitiously recorded a private conversation of Nick Young discussing his tryst while dating rapper Iggy Azela in 2016.
I feel that Russell's actions will haunt him for the rest of his career.
Russell averaged 14.3 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds in his two seasons with the Lakers.
The Lakers have won the 2nd overall pick in the NBA draft lottery for the last three years, and I think that Ball is the best option to end the lottery trend, for I feel that he will have the best career out of all the players in 2017 NBA draft.
Unfortunately, both players in the NBA and fans of the basketball have targeted Ball, wanting him to fail due to the blunt, self-assured and at times unapologetic personality of his of his dad, Lavar Ball who has created a family business for his son known as the Big Baller Brand.
The Big Baller Brand putting a price tag of $495 dollars on Lonzo's first sneaker, the ZO2 before he playing a single NBA game has made him a bigger target.
However, I think Ball has the talent to bring back a version of the Showtime Lakers from the 1980's that Johnson is looking to bring back to the franchise.
Ball has the skills to play in both a half-court offense and an up-tempo run-and-gun style of offense in transition with his speed, court vision and ability to slash, shoot, pass and rebound.
At one season with UCLA, Ball averaged 14.6 points, 7.6 assists, and 6.0 rebounds, shooting 55.1 percent of his field goal attempts and 41.2 percent of his three-point attempts.
As the early favorite to be 2018 NBA rookie of the year, Ball has the skills to be a special player that basketball fans should be excited watch.
Drafting Ball sets the Lakers stage under the Magic era to land two-way star Paul George, who will be an unrestricted free agent in 2018, for George has stated that he wants to return home to play for the Lakers when he enters free agency in 2018.
Also, the Lakers may be able to snipe LeBron James who has a 2018 player option in which, he can either stay for another year with Cleveland Cavaliers or opt of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent in 2018.
Now all the Lakers need is for Coach Luke Walton to invest in some hair mousse and Armani suits a la Pat Riley, who won four NBA championships as the head coach of the Lakers during the Showtime era in the 1980's.