magic johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers are under fire this week after the NBA is investigating the team and its' president of basketball operations for tampering in their pursuit of all-star forward Paul George this summer. The news is rather strange, considering the incident they are speaking of, in particular, occurred three months ago when Johnson appeared on the late show with Jimmy Kimmel. Magic was asked by Jimmy if he was interested in getting George during the NBA's free-agency period. Magic informed Kimmel of his inability at the time to legally pursue a deal for the star but jokingly said if I may give him a "wink wink" if I see him.
The comment has surprisingly influenced the league to actually investigate whether or not it was tampering. If so, the league will reportedly prevent the Lakers from acquiring George when he is available, according to ESPN. However, the Lakers organization has already gone onto deny the accusations that were made to the league by the Indiana Pacers, Paul's former team. It is believed that Los Angeles will either trade for George during this upcoming season or wait until the 2018 free agency period to sign him.
Deja vu for the Lakers organization
In 2011, the Lakers made a deal with the New Orleans Hornets to acquire star guard Chris Paul. The move was intended to provide Kobe Bryant with another star to help the team continue winning championships.
Unfortunately, former NBA commissioner, David Stern, did the unthinkable and blocked the trade. The failed deal caused division between the franchise and the players that they intended to deal for CP3. Since then, the team has failed to be a contender and has been in the rebuilding stage.
Many fans and folks of the media still find the decision by Stern as one of the most mysterious things that have ever been done by the league.
Still to this day, it has not been clear why the deal was blocked. But what it has done is made fans question the motives of the NBA when making such a decision
Why the addition of PG13 is big for the team
After successfully drafting Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball in the last two drafts, the Lakers are destined to return to a playoff contender in the West.
They have a nice amount of cap room to add a star like George around their young players to immediately help them reach that status. Being as though Paul George is from the California area, he has expressed his interest in playing for his hometown team.
Most importantly, playing for the Lakers will give George a better future than he had if he would have stayed with Indiana. For Lonzo Ball, it will provide a guaranteed scorer that he can feed his great passes to on the wing. Also, PG has been to the conference finals before and he has plenty of playoff experience. If Los Angeles is able to pick up the hometown kid, it could instantly boost the young team to the championship contender it has been for being since their existence.
