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Los Angeles Lakers: Grading every move of Magic Johnson’s tenure

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 23: Magic Johnson, president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers talks to the media during a press conference on June 23, 2017 at the team training faculity in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 23: Magic Johnson, president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers talks to the media during a press conference on June 23, 2017 at the team training faculity in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2017 NBA Draft selections

  • Date: June 22, 2017

Lonzo Ball, 2nd overall — C+

Many people may disagree with the C+ rating for Lonzo Ball and would argue that his grade deserves to be lower. Ball was a victim of his own hype entering the league, hype he naturally would not be able to live up.

Despite Ball struggling with his jump shot and scoring, he was a huge help in every asset of the game and had a noticeable culture change on the way the Lakers ran the offense. While missing out on guys such as Jayson Tatum hurts, Ball did his job and will only get better with time.

Kyle Kuzma, 27th overall — A+

Technically, this pick was made by the Brooklyn Nets and then was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. However, it was obviously the Lakers that were calling the shots and ended up with one of the best surprises picks in all of the drafts.

Kyle Kuzma absolutely excelled in his rookie year and set the bar high for himself in the coming seasons. Kuzma could become a 20-point per game scorer as early as his second or third season and is setting himself up to be one of the best power forwards in the league.

Josh Hart, 30th overall — B

We give the selection of Josh Hart a B for several reasons. Hart did shine in multiple games for the Lakers last season and showed that he could be a great producer at the NBA level. He backed that up with a great showing in the Summer League this summer to net him MVP honors.

However, Hart still not have a blow you away rookie season and does have room to grow. While we think he will and we think he was a great selection, we are giving him a B to give him room to grow into an A.

Thomas Bryant, 42nd overall — F

Ok, we do not think that selecting Thomas Bryant was a move worth an F. What merits the F, in this case, is that the Lakers gave up on him after just one season and waived him despite him being on the NBA G League All First-Team. Why?

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