Trying to wrap our heads around what’s happening in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ war room these days makes us feel like Charlie in the It’s Always Sunny conspiracy meme. The complexities involved have reached Byzantine proportions, and depending on how the chips fall, the organization could end up assembling a super-team to end all super-teams or walk away with nothing at all.
Magic Johnson has staked both his job and his reputation on free agency, perhaps fool-heartedly declaring that he if is unable to land marquee free agents over the next two years, he’ll step down as team president. Magic is a competitive man, so maybe he’ll thrive under that enormous pressure the way he once did on the basketball court, regardless of whether that ultimatum was even necessary (it wasn’t).
The point is that both he and the Lakers expect to make something big happen this summer. By all accounts, they appear to have a legitimate shot at signing multiple superstars, which could potentially include some configuration of LeBron James, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard. Yet, there’s also a distinct possibility that they might end up empty-handed.
With July 1 fast approaching, they got some good news on the LeBron front when reports emerged on Friday that he’s opting out of the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agency. But complicating matters was another report coming out of Los Angeles, this one having to do with a Lonzo Ball knee injury.
Via Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports:
Ball was diagnosed with the injury at the end of the season and has gone through recovery options to treat the minor injury and find the best route for his long-term future, league sources said. Ball is expected to be ready for the start of the season, league sources said.
At first glance, it might appear to be much ado about nothing. But in the context of the Lakers’ front office finagling, it could cause a major ripple effect. Over the past couple of days, they have aggressively pursued a trade package to land Kawhi Leonard, who has requested a trade from San Antonio and indicated that he’d prefer to go to his hometown Lakers.
Now, the Spurs have reportedly said that they have no interest in acquiring Ball in a potential deal, but it’s unclear how much of this is simply posturing on their part in order to try and sweeten the deal. Ball would be a major asset in trade negotiations, particularly if the two sides try to loop in a third team to make the numbers work.
Ball and his father LaVar both clearly want him to remain with the Lakers, so an injury like this — albeit an apparent slight one — along with the conveniently-timed nature of this news, is certainly in service of Ball’s preference to remain in Los Angeles. And a big part of that desire obviously has to do with the opportunity to play alongside LeBron James, should he chose to sign with L.A. this summer.
Whether that feeling is reciprocated is another matter entirely. There seems to be a pervading feeling that LeBron would just as soon avoid the media circus that inevitably follows the Ball family everywhere they go. And if LeBron’s signing with the Lakers is in any way contingent on Ball’s departure, then this well-timed injury news could certainly ensure that he remains in Los Angeles, but it might also have the unintended effect of keeping LeBron James from joining him there.
