Magic outs Pelinka as the “Back Stabber” in LA Front Office

 They just are devoid of topics at the moment and using this situation to fill article space etc. so they can continue to juice their most profitable asset. Every front office has its issues throughut every organization but you will rarely hear about them, mainly because nobody cares. Until you bring up the Knicks or Lakers because, right now theres nothing to talk about. These issues really shouldnt concern anyone that is not employed by the Lakers or in direct affiliation with the NBA.

While I dislike Pelinka, I’m also skeptical about Magic’s definition of back stabbing. Magic was the undisputed boss, Pelinka his advisor. He could’ve fired him immediately if felt undermined in anyway. 

One things for sure, ESPN rub it in with Magic for some ratings. 

He was very complimentary of remaining Pelicans staff. Seemed like he thought he might help the Lakers with them in that way. Probably not. The Pelicans owner already said she would send AD to LA “over (her) dead body” even if she said strongly denied it later… she said it, she just wants to keep leverage and make other teams think they’re competing with Laker offers. They’re not. 

Magic mostly shot the Lakers in the foot. GM’s and agents on the fence about Pelinka might be even less inclined to work with him. Magic’s word means something in the NBA. 

It also sounds like all the moves were his ideas. That might actually be helpful. The only good moves they made were through the draft (thank you Jesse Buss). Maybe Pelinka has better sense and knows the value of the guys they’ve got. 

LA can fail to trade for AD this year, hold onto the cap space, they can say they tried, tell him that the Pelicans wouldn’t be reasonable, and just get him in free agency next year. 

Although I’m not really sure what exactly the dynamic was between magic and Pelinka, I do know that magic just wasn’t cut out for the team president role. If Pelinka was critizing magic behind his back for not being committed enough to his job, that criticism was probably warranted. It was a full-time job and magic wanted to do it on a part-time basis. He had too much other stuff going on to fully invest himself. 

To judge Magic’s effectiveness in making basketball decisions for the franchise, look no further than the players he signed after signing lebron. They basically wasted a year of lebron with an ill-fitting roster. The way he handled the Davis trade request was an absolute fiasco. His public criticism of Russell on the way out was just petty and unnecessary. Trading zubac for muscala was just dumb. Picking ball second in the draft was probably not the right move. 

Dont get me wrong, he did some good things for the franchise, namely signing lebron of course. He also cleared cap space and found a steal in kuzma. The franchise is in a better place than it was overall when he signed on. But I just don’t think long-term he really had the commitment or experience to lead the franchise, which is why I don’t think it’s terrible that he’s walking away. As far as Pelinka goes, we will see, although I must admit the early signs aren’t necessarily encouraging.

 i thought it was big of magic to admit he messed up on not bring back brook lopez. in this generation alot of higher ups never wanna admit they made a mistake.