![\"Magic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-813031286-e1685452179971.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka selected Lonzo Ball for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 NBA draft. <\/p>\n
The new-look Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> may get off to a rocky start, warns five-time NBA<\/a> champion Magic Johnson.<\/p>\n While assessing the Lakers\u2019 seven offseason acquisitions\u2014Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes<\/a>, Kevon Looney<\/a>, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Ziaire Williams<\/a> and Matisse Thybulle\u2014Johnson urged patience from the Purple & Gold fanbase.<\/p>\n \u201cLakers fans have to be patient though,\u201d Johnson said<\/a> via a detailed post on X.<\/p>\n \u201cThese 7 new players have to learn how to play with superstar Luka Doncic<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a>, so we may not get off to a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n Lakers fans have to be patient though. These 7 new players have to learn how to play with superstar Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, so we may not get off to a good start.<\/p>\n The Lakers also traded Deandre Ayton<\/a> for Jaden Hardy<\/a> and drafted Cameron Carr<\/a>, bringing their total of new roster pieces to nine overall. Furthermore, second-year wing Adou Thiero<\/a> is expected to become a key part of the rotation after spending most of his rookie year in the G League.<\/p>\n Magic Johnson Excited About New-Look Lakers<\/p>\n Johnson went on to praise the versatility of Mamukelashvili and spoke highly of rookie Carr, who averaged 18.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in the Summer League.<\/p>\n \u201cThey also added three point shooting from Sandro Mamukelashvili. I loved the way our first round pick Cameron Carr played in summer league, he has a beautiful three point shot and is very athletic,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know much about Ziaire Williams yet, but I\u2019ve heard a lot of good things about his game!\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Johnson further highlighted that the Lakers bolstered their defense with the additions of shot-blocker Walker Kessler<\/a> and perimeter stopper Matisse Thybulle<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got a young, athletic center in Walker Kessler who can score and is a great rim protector, and I was so happy they signed two-time All Defensive player Matisse Thybulle!\u201d<\/p>\n Magic Johnson Praises Lakers Front Office<\/p>\n After watching the Luka Doncic-less team get swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> in the playoffs, Johnson urged the Lakers front office to get younger and more athletic. Fast forward a few months, Johnson feels Rob Pelinka, his former college, has achieved the mission of making the Lakers a more versatile squad up and down the roster.<\/p>\n \u201cI said this offseason the Lakers had to get younger, more athletic, and faster, and they did just that,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n Further to Johnson\u2019s point, all the core pieces of the new-look Lakers are 28 or under, with 30-year-old Kevon Looney being the oldest player. Among the offseason acquisitions, Kessler and Grimes are 25, while Mamukelashvili and Sexton are 27.<\/p>\n As excited as Johnson is about Luka Doncic and the Lakers, he realizes that JJ Redick\u2019s team is a notch below the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> and Oklahoma City Thunder in the West.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the West, we know the Spurs and the Thunder are favored and the Nuggets, Timberwolves<\/a>, Lakers and Rockets<\/a> are all strong teams behind them,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Rockets will be definitely be dangerous because Fred VanVleet<\/a> will be back after missing last season with an injury,\u201d Johnson concluded.<\/p>\n Both the Eastern and Western Conferences are stacked. Halliburton is coming back from the Pacers and they\u2019ll be a great team once again. Giannis is now in Miami, the Pistons will still be a strong team again along with the Cavaliers. And if the trade goes through and Kawhi ends<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sportswriter with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka selected Lonzo Ball for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-827801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}