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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 Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2018 free agent signings

The Los Angeles Lakers have been very busy this offseason and could get even busier. We are here to grade the team’s significant signings.

Signing Rajon Rondo — B-

  • Date: July 6, 2018

You’re probably wondering why we are writing about the Rajon Rondo signing before the obvious big signing and that is because we are doing these in chronological order.

I had no problem with the Rajon Rondo signing and in fact like the dynamic that he is going to bring to the Lakers alongside Lonzo Ball. Rondo is the perfect mentor to push Ball and get the most out of him.

The only thing I did not like from this move was the fact that the team opted to pay Rondo over Julius Randle. However, it is not that black and white.

Re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — C-

  • Date: July 6, 2018

This does break our previous rule of no re-signings but I included this re-signing as it really came out of nowhere. The Lakers agreed to another one-year deal with Caldwell-Pope, this time for $12 million.

Now that the team will be in contention, we have to nitpick Caldwell-Pope. The Lakers could have gotten a player with the same production for cheaper or even a better player for the same price.

Signing LeBron James — A+++

  • Date: July 9, 2018

It’s LeBron James. The deal was first announced on July 1 and finalized on July 9.

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Signing Lance Stephenson — D

  • Date: July 10, 2018

Out of all the signings this offseason this one has to be my least favorite. Lance Stephenson does not look like he is going to have a huge role on this team other than coming into games to cause havoc for the opposition.

His dynamic with LeBron James is going to be interesting to watch and the negative implications could outweigh the positives. I do not want to give this an F, because there is potential, but it is strange why the Laker went with Stephenson over other options.

Signing JaVale McGee — C

  • Date: July 10, 2018

The Los Angeles Lakers needed depth at center and JaVale McGee provides just that. However, the team was unable to bring in another center and now McGee is the starting center. While that is not a great situation, signing McGee was fine.

Signing Michael Beasley — C

  • Date: July 23

Like with JaVale McGee, this signing was fine for the Los Angeles Lakers but was not good enough to deserve anything more than a C. The case could be made that Beasley’s minutes are taking away from the youth on the roster but the Lakers should be looking to add depth at all costs. Because of that, this is another middle of the road move.

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