EL SEGUNDO – Magic Johnson acknowledges his patience has been tested in recent years, watching the Lakers franchise he led to five NBA titles shuffle through coaching changes, unproven rosters and disappointing seasons.
Hired to serve an advisory role earlier this month, he predicts more growing pains await.
“It’s going to take three to five years to get them back rolling again,” Johnson said in an interview on ‘CBS This Morning’ that aired Monday. “If we’re patient and we develop our own players, in today’s NBA it’s different than when I played. You have to develop your own players because free agent movement is not like it used to be. You have to make sure you hit a home run with the players you do draft and keep the players you have on your roster.”
Whether that means Johnson can be patient with the Lakers’ front office remains to be seen. Generally speaking, though, Lakers coach Luke Walton said “three to five years sounds normal for a rebuild.”
The two have yet to meet since Johnson’s hiring, for logistical reasons. The Lakers just completed a five-game, 10-day trip late last week. The Lakers (19-37) have games against Sacramento (23-32) on Tuesday at Staples Center and the Suns on Wednesday in Phoenix before NBA All-Star weekend in New Orleans.
“When I get some free time, I would love to and am looking forward toward sitting down with Magic,” Walton said. “It’s going to happen. There’s just no time right now.”
Johnson had a phone conversation last week with Lakers second-year guard D’Angelo Russell, whom he has called on to become the team’s leader.
“He’s ready to work with me with every opportunity he gets,” Russell said. “Whatever he has to offer, I’m going to be a sponge to.”
Walton sounded just as open, including how to help the current Lakers emulate the Showtime teams that thrived with an up-tempo offense and disciplined defense.
“When the time is there, we’ll sit down,” Walton said. “We’ll obviously coach this team the way we think is best for our guys to win and gives us a best chance for growing in a certain direction for the future. But obviously we’d love to have Magic’s input on those type of things.”
Walton canceled Sunday’s practice, but it was not to give the team a day off. Instead, the Lakers spent their day performing at SoHo Yoga in Hermosa Beach.
“It was very hot in there,” forward Brandon Ingram said, laughing. “It was a mind thing, trying to go through the stretches and do everything you can. Overall, it was good for the team.”
While Ingram said Walton “did pretty good,” Lakers forward Julius Randle revealed equipment manager Carlos Maples “almost died.”
“They were hard,” Randle said. “I still felt it from today. It was tough.”
While Randle plans to incorporate that training in his offseason regimen, Ingram did not sound as enthusiastic.
“I don’t want to,” Ingram said. “I’d rather stay in the gym and do what we do.”
Free agent center Larry Sanders met with the Lakers on Monday, though it remains unclear if the Lakers would waive a player to make room on their league-maximum 15-player roster. Though Walton called the 28-year-old Sanders a “great rim protector and rebounder,” he has not played in the NBA since 2014.
Sanders became a promising player for the Milwaukee Bucks (2010-2014), but they bought out his contract after he had two suspensions for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy and took a personal leave of absence.
The original pitch sounded enticing. The Lakers offered center Timofey Mozgov a four-year, $64 million deal, while Walton promised a significant role.
The latest pitch hardly seems as pleasant. With Mozgov being a healthy scratch for the past three games in favor of Tarik Black and Ivica Zubac, Walton told Mozgov “he still has to be ready to play” without any assurances of doing so.
“I try to stay positive,” Mozgov said. “I try to work hard. If the guys need any advice, I’m there.”
After outlining his latest job description, Mozgov then conceded “it’s not easy.”
After defying gravity with his breath-taking dunks, forward Larry Nance Jr. seemed eager to learn some new tricks following Monday’s practice. Nance met with Harlem Globetrotters player Anthony “Buckets” Blakes, both of whom went to University of Wyoming, though not at the same time.
The Globetrotters actually drafted Nance before he declared himself eligible for the NBA. Blakes believed Nance would have excelled with the Globetrotters because of three qualities.
“They’re looking for great athletes. He’s one of them,” Blakes said of Nance. “They’re looking for basketball skills. He has that. They’re looking for a certain personality. He has that. He has a cool demeanor and is laid back.”
Contact the writer: mmedina@scng.com
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