Post by Blake Bowman on Jun 26, 2013 23:09:09 GMT
Insider Interview with Magic Johnson
You're facing the Dallas Mavericks in round one. Your record is better than theirs despite you being a lower seed, do you think the home court advantage will be a key factor to the series?
I do not think home court will be a major factor in this series. If you recall last year we had the reverse and I were the number three seed and Dallas was the number six seed, and the series went through 7 games and in game 7 I held homecourt advantage, and despite having homecourt advantage we got blown out at home and lost the series so I do not think it will be as major of a factor in this rematch between the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.
It is clear that you think you can win, after you have been quoted on saying:
"GET READY FOR DAT ASS WHUPPIN DALLAS
REVENGE FOR LAST YEAR."
But, do you think it'll be a close series?[/color]
I think last year we had lot of good pieces but were a flawed team with major issues at SF, PF position and really reliant on younger talent to come through in Lowry and Bynum. After a complete roster overhaul we have veterans mixed with young players and a stronger supporting cast, we will never underestimate or take an opponent for granted as Dallas is a formidable foe that is still led by hall of famer Dirk Nowitzki, so we do expect it to be a closer series but we also expect to come out on top this time.
Why did you trade away Irving? Did you not believe in him, as a franchise PG?
In all honestly I really did not want to trade Kyrie Irving I still view him as a franchise Point Guard, a leader, a superstar and someone that will be in the hall of fame one day in addition to being the leagues best player and I wish him the best of luck with his new team the Denver Nuggets. I chose to trade Kyrie because I believed the Lakers were bare, yes in the future we would have cap space but having cap space doesn't always equate to claiming and having free agents come to this team, with the Kyrie trade we were able to get 3 first round picks and turn the talent received from Kyrie trade to a mix of young stars for the future such as Harrison Barnes, Nikola Vucevic, and Omer Asik while also acquiring veterans such as Chauncy Billups and Zach Randolph that can help the Lakers and star Kobe Bryant win another championship.
How do you view the past year for your organization?
I view the past year for our organization as bittersweet, bitter due to failures in the playoffs and winning and needing to trade away players but also sweet as our future from this years playoffs and beyond look bright with young talent in addition for desire and hunger to top the Boston Celtics in being the team that wins the most championships in NBA history.
What is a deal you made you really liked?
There are plenty of deals I like and some I regret, but one I loved the acquisition of Kyrie Irving, the acquisition of Chauncy Billups and also the trade which gave us Zach Randolph and Omer Asik to stabilize our force down low that can help us dominate the paint and our opponents in helping us win games.
What is a deal you made you would take back?
Just like many others in this league who believe to be a bad move, both moves for Kyrie Irving I would not take back but redo, I would probably demand Paul George or Chris Bosh in the trade with the Denver Nuggets and also in the initial trade for Kyrie with the Cavs I would have demanded 4th pick instead of the 10th pick in the draft. I do have some regrets for not demanding more for my return but I am happy with what I have received. There are others such as the Gasol trade and the Randolph trade where I threw in a extra first rounder where it wasn't needed but the Kyrie Irving deals are the ones that obviously stand out the most.
What is a deal another team made that you really liked?
I really loved the trade the Portland Trail Blazers have made for Luol Deng with Deng on the team they finally found a Small Foward and a stabilizing force at that position that can shoot, pass, defend, rebound a player that is a all-star that can do it all and can do anything you ask of him to do.
What is a deal another team made that made you scratch your head?
There are 2 trades that were very perplexing to me, the first would be Denver sending away Chris Bosh for Brook Lopez considering Bosh is already locked long term and you have a nice young nucleus it didn't make sense why he would make that move for a talented yet expiring player in Brook Lopez. The Sacramento trade for Russell Westbrook was also perplexing as he gave up literally his entire team just to get Westbrook leaving his team bare at other positions and possibly in trouble for the future as his team has lack of bigmen that can help Westbrook and Lillard win.
What is your plan for this off-season?
As of right now we are strictly focused on the playoffs and only the playoffs, but for our off season we do plan to strengthening the bench, adding young talent, and a Point Guard of the future to this team.
What long term goals do you have for your team, with Kobe aging and expiring next year, would you think of letting him walk?
The Lakers always reload and never rebuild that has always been the mantra of this franchise, our long term goals is to acquire talent that can help us win a championship immediately and keep is in contention for many more championships in the future. As for our superstar Kobe Bryant we will discuss talking to him about possible contract extension and resigning of the contract so he may play for us the remainder of his career and retire a Laker just like he started his career as a Laker.[/b]
You're facing the Dallas Mavericks in round one. Your record is better than theirs despite you being a lower seed, do you think the home court advantage will be a key factor to the series?
I do not think home court will be a major factor in this series. If you recall last year we had the reverse and I were the number three seed and Dallas was the number six seed, and the series went through 7 games and in game 7 I held homecourt advantage, and despite having homecourt advantage we got blown out at home and lost the series so I do not think it will be as major of a factor in this rematch between the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.
It is clear that you think you can win, after you have been quoted on saying:
"GET READY FOR DAT ASS WHUPPIN DALLAS
REVENGE FOR LAST YEAR."
But, do you think it'll be a close series?[/color]
I think last year we had lot of good pieces but were a flawed team with major issues at SF, PF position and really reliant on younger talent to come through in Lowry and Bynum. After a complete roster overhaul we have veterans mixed with young players and a stronger supporting cast, we will never underestimate or take an opponent for granted as Dallas is a formidable foe that is still led by hall of famer Dirk Nowitzki, so we do expect it to be a closer series but we also expect to come out on top this time.
Why did you trade away Irving? Did you not believe in him, as a franchise PG?
In all honestly I really did not want to trade Kyrie Irving I still view him as a franchise Point Guard, a leader, a superstar and someone that will be in the hall of fame one day in addition to being the leagues best player and I wish him the best of luck with his new team the Denver Nuggets. I chose to trade Kyrie because I believed the Lakers were bare, yes in the future we would have cap space but having cap space doesn't always equate to claiming and having free agents come to this team, with the Kyrie trade we were able to get 3 first round picks and turn the talent received from Kyrie trade to a mix of young stars for the future such as Harrison Barnes, Nikola Vucevic, and Omer Asik while also acquiring veterans such as Chauncy Billups and Zach Randolph that can help the Lakers and star Kobe Bryant win another championship.
How do you view the past year for your organization?
I view the past year for our organization as bittersweet, bitter due to failures in the playoffs and winning and needing to trade away players but also sweet as our future from this years playoffs and beyond look bright with young talent in addition for desire and hunger to top the Boston Celtics in being the team that wins the most championships in NBA history.
What is a deal you made you really liked?
There are plenty of deals I like and some I regret, but one I loved the acquisition of Kyrie Irving, the acquisition of Chauncy Billups and also the trade which gave us Zach Randolph and Omer Asik to stabilize our force down low that can help us dominate the paint and our opponents in helping us win games.
What is a deal you made you would take back?
Just like many others in this league who believe to be a bad move, both moves for Kyrie Irving I would not take back but redo, I would probably demand Paul George or Chris Bosh in the trade with the Denver Nuggets and also in the initial trade for Kyrie with the Cavs I would have demanded 4th pick instead of the 10th pick in the draft. I do have some regrets for not demanding more for my return but I am happy with what I have received. There are others such as the Gasol trade and the Randolph trade where I threw in a extra first rounder where it wasn't needed but the Kyrie Irving deals are the ones that obviously stand out the most.
What is a deal another team made that you really liked?
I really loved the trade the Portland Trail Blazers have made for Luol Deng with Deng on the team they finally found a Small Foward and a stabilizing force at that position that can shoot, pass, defend, rebound a player that is a all-star that can do it all and can do anything you ask of him to do.
What is a deal another team made that made you scratch your head?
There are 2 trades that were very perplexing to me, the first would be Denver sending away Chris Bosh for Brook Lopez considering Bosh is already locked long term and you have a nice young nucleus it didn't make sense why he would make that move for a talented yet expiring player in Brook Lopez. The Sacramento trade for Russell Westbrook was also perplexing as he gave up literally his entire team just to get Westbrook leaving his team bare at other positions and possibly in trouble for the future as his team has lack of bigmen that can help Westbrook and Lillard win.
What is your plan for this off-season?
As of right now we are strictly focused on the playoffs and only the playoffs, but for our off season we do plan to strengthening the bench, adding young talent, and a Point Guard of the future to this team.
What long term goals do you have for your team, with Kobe aging and expiring next year, would you think of letting him walk?
The Lakers always reload and never rebuild that has always been the mantra of this franchise, our long term goals is to acquire talent that can help us win a championship immediately and keep is in contention for many more championships in the future. As for our superstar Kobe Bryant we will discuss talking to him about possible contract extension and resigning of the contract so he may play for us the remainder of his career and retire a Laker just like he started his career as a Laker.[/b]