Tomahawk Tuesday: Will Magic Johnson return the Los Angeles Lakers to glory?

Earlier today, the Los Angeles Lakers made a huge change to their front office in hopes of saving the franchise. The Los Angeles Times has details below:

On one of the most dramatic days in the history of the Lakers, the woman at the center of it all made drastic changes Tuesday aiming to help resuscitate the team.
Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ governor and president, fired her brother, Jim Buss,  the head of basketball operations.
She fired general manager Mitch Kupchak, who has been a Laker for more than 35 years.
She fired John Black, the team’s spokesman for more than two decades.
She handed the reins of the franchise to a man she has known since she was 17 years old, one who calls her a sister. Magic Johnson, perhaps the best to ever play for the Lakers, is now the team’s president of basketball operations.

 What this news all means is that Magic Johnson is now in firm control of the Lakers' destiny. Jeanie Buss has given him the keys to the car and kicked out all the bums in the process. For the Lakers, this could be a franchise defining moment or it could not be. For all we know, Magic Johnson may go on to be just as incompetent  at running the franchise as Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak, so by no means should Lakers fans be rejoicing just yet.

With that being said, it is encouraging for the Lakers that such an action was taken by Jeanie Buss. The team has been going nowhere for quite a while and Mitch Kupchak has done nothing that would give me any faith or confidence in his general managing abilities. He's made a series of stupid moves that have set the franchise back, so he absolutely deserves to be fired.

So, with that in mind, giving Magic Johnson a shot to run the franchise makes sense in that he's a new guy running the team and he also is the ultimate face of the franchise. Having Magic Johnson at the helm should attract quality free agents and it should also lead to better front office decisions. Magic knows the game really well and has been around championship teams his whole life. He knows what it takes to build a championship organization so it makes sense to give him a shot at running the team that he did so much for.

I have high expectations for myself, this team and our organization. The @Lakers are about winning and I'll work hard to make that happen. pic.twitter.com/LVTANwY7uL

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 22, 2017

Ultimately,  I think this is a great move by the Lakers. They needed to make a front office change and bringing in Magic Johnson as the president of basketball operations should bring about better front office moves and give the franchise a much needed boost. It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out in the end, but for now, I really can't complain about this move. This is the first front office move the Lakers have made that I've agreed with in a long time.



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Daily Dunks: 5/18-5/24

                                                    (Credit: Andy Melton. Click here for source) 

               

This is my Daily Dunks page for May 18, 2015 through May 24, 2015. Throughout the week this page will be updated with news and scores from across the NBA until a new Daily Dunks page is created for the following week. So make sure to keep checking this page every 24 hours or so for the latest news until next week. 

Monday's NBA Daily Dunks: 

#1. Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (knee) says he will play in Game 1 against the Hawks (Click here for details). 

#2. Doc Rivers says the Clippers need to "add pieces" (Click here for details).

#3. The Raptors fired two of Dwane Casey's assistants (Click here for details). 

#4. The Magic are willing to pay Tom Thibodeau $7-$9M per year (Click here for details). 

#5. Wizards point guard John Wall doesn't think he'll need surgery on his hand/wrist (Click here for details). 

#6. The Pelicans have been granted permission to interview Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry for their head coaching job (Click here for details). 

#7. Report: Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan had a falling out (Click here for details). 

#8. The Clippers are interested in Lakers forward Wesley Johnson (Click here for details). 

#9. Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley has abounded hope of playing against the Warriors (Click here for details). 

#10. The Grizzlies are engaging in talks with Mike Conley about an extension (Click here for details). 

Monday's NBA Playoff Results: None. Western Conference Finals begin Tuesday. Eastern Conference Finals begin Wednesday (Click here for a full schedule for both series').

Tuesday's NBA Daily Dunks: 

#1. The NBA Draft lottery happened. The Timberwolves won the #1 overall pick (Click here for full results).

#2. Bucks point guard Tyler Ennis underwent successful surgery on his right shoulder. His status for next season is unknown (Click here for details).

#3. Wizards center Marcin Gortat says personal issues distracted him this past season (Click here for details).

#4. Report: Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders really likes Jahlil Okafor for the #1 pick (Click here for details).

#5. The Pelicans are also interested in Scott Brooks and Jeff Van Gundy for their head coaching job (Click here for details).

#6. Kentucky head coach John Calipari denies interest in the Pelicans' head coaching vacancy after a report said he was interested (Click here for details).

#7. Chris Paul is frustrated with DeAndre Jordan's laziness in his approach to foul shooting (Click here for details).

#8. Thunder small forward Kevin Durant's recovery from foot surgery is going well, but he still cannot put weight on his foot (Click here fokr details).

#9. Kings VP Vlade Divac says DeMarcus Cousins is untradeable (Click here for details).

#10. Report: Ricky Rubio's posse is pushing for a trade (Click here for details).

Tuesday's NBA Playoffs results: 

Warriors 110 Rockets 106 (Warriors lead Western Conference Finals 1-0). Warriors point guard Stephen Curry had 34 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Wednesday's NBA Daily Dunks: 

#1. The Lakers plan to pursue Tom Thibodeau for their head coaching job (Click here for details).

#2. Stephen Curry got fined $5K for flopping in Game 1 against the Rockets. Steve Kerr is "morally outraged" (Click here for details).

#3. The NBA First Team All-Defense was released (Click here to view it). The NBA Second Team All-Defense was also released (Click here to view it).

#4. Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor says trading the #1 pick will be "part of the conversation" (Click here for details).

#5. Former Thunder head coach Scott Brooks is expected to sit out this upcoming season. He is declining interviews (Click here for details).

#6. The Lakers are reportedly expected to take either Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns with the #2 pick. (Click here for details).

#7. For making the Second Team All-Defense, Warriors center Andrew Bogut got a $1.945M bonus (Click here for details).

#8. Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic underwent knee surgery. He is expected to be out 3-4 months (Click here for details).

#9. Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll had a knee injury that look scary. Thankfully he is listed as day-to-day with just a bone bruise after having an MRI (Click here for details).

#10. Rockets center Dwight Howard (knee) is a game-time decision for Thursday (Click here for details).

Wednesday's NBA Playoff Results: 

Cavaliers 97 Hawks 89 (Cavaliers lead Eastern Conference Finals 1-0). Cavaliers small forward LeBron James had 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Thursday's NBA Daily Dunks: 

#1. Pelicans shooting guard Tyreke Evans underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee (Click here for details).

#2. Hawks small forward DeMarre Carroll (knee) is questionable for Game 2 on Friday (Click here for details).

#3. Warriors point guard Stephen Curry doesn't agree with the fine the league gave him for flopping (Click here for details).

#4. Warriors assistant coach Alvin Gentry is looking like the front runner to land the Pelicans head coaching job. He has landed a second interview with the club (Click here for details).

#5. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak denies any special interest in Tom Thibodeau (Click here for details).

#6. Mavericks president Donnie Nelson says Rick Carlisle can be in Dallas as long as he wants (Click here for details).

#7. Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley won't sign an extension, but this doesn't mean he is leaving Memphis (Click here for details).

#8. The All-NBA First, Second, and Third teams were announced (Click here for details).

#9. Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons remains silent on whether or not he got microfracture surgery on his knee (Click here for details). 

#10. Lester Hudson, last with the Clippers, has received a $2M offer to play in China next season (Click here for details).

Thursday's NBA Playoff Results: 

Warriors 99 Rockets 98: Final (Warriors lead Western Conference Finals 2-0). Warriors point guard Stephen Curry had 33 points and 6 assists on 5-11 shooting from 3-point range.

Friday's NBA Daily Dunks: 

#1. Tom Thibodeau and Alvin Gentry are the leading candidates for the Pelicans' head coaching job (Click here for details).

#2. The Cavaliers say symptoms related to tendinitis in Kyrie Irving's left knee have not diminished. Irving as a result did not play on Friday. (Click here for details). Note: DeMarre Carroll played for the Hawks on Friday.

#3. Hawks power forward Pero Antic committed a flagrant foul on LeBron James (Click here for details).

#4. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak says the team will likely keep the #2 overall pick (Click here for details).

#5. The Clippers and other teams have offered Royce White a spot on their summer league team (Click here for details).

#6. The Lakers have "big time" interest in signing DeMarre Carroll in free agency (Click here for details).

#7. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak says Kobe Bryant has told him next season will be his last season with the Lakers (Click here for details).

#8. The Lakers may choose a guard (D'Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay) with the #2 pick instead of Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor (Click here for details).

#9. Jeff Van Gundy is interested in the Pelicans' head coaching job (Click here for details).

#10. The Nuggets are reportedly building around Jusuf Nurkic and Danilo Gallinari. Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried could get traded (Click here for details).

Friday's NBA Playoff Results: 

Cavaliers 94 Hawks 82 (Cavaliers lead the Eastern Conference Finals 2-0). Cavaliers small forward LeBron James had 30 points, 9 rebounds, and 11 assists.

Saturday's NBA Daily Dunks: 

#1. Hawks small forward Kyle Korver may need surgery on his right ankle. He is done for the playoffs (Click here for details).

#2. Raptors small forward Terrence Ross underwent surgery on his left ankle. There is no timetable for his recovery at the moment (Click here for details).

#3. Famous Harlem Globetrotter Marques Haynes passed away at the age of 89 (Click here for details).

#4. Scott Skiles is reportedly the front runner for the Magic head coaching job (Click here for details).

#5. The Bulls want to wait until all the other head coaching vacancies are filled before they fire Tom Thibodeau (Click here for details).

#6. Consensus among those in management positions is that Kevin Love will leave the Cavaliers in free agency this summer (Click here for details).

#7. Goran Dragic wants the Heat to play at a faster tempo (Click here for details).

#8. Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (knee) won't play on Sunday (Click here for details).

#9.Tim Salier of the Austin Spurs has won the D-League executive of the year award (Click here for details).

#10.  Warriors point guard Stephen Curry had 40 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Saturday's NBA Final Scores: 

Warriors 115 Rockets 80 (Warriors lead the Western Conference Finals 3-0).

Sunday's NBA Daily Dunks: 

#1. According to DeMarre Carroll, Kyle Korver needs ankle surgery and may be out 4-6 months (Click here for details).

#2. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak doesn't think the Lakers have the time to build via the draft (Click here for details).

#3. The Heat are still the front runners to sign Goran Dragic this summer (Click here for details).

#4. The 76ers are expected to draft the best available player in the draft when they pick third (Click here for details).

#5. The NBA is considering moving up the NBA Finals to June 2 in the event that both series' are sweeps (Click here for details).

#6.  Hawks center Al Horford got ejected from Sunday's game after an altercation with Matthew Dellavedova. Horford has some words for Dellavedova (Click here for details).

#7. Phil Jackson backtracks a bit on the "I don't like three point shooting" talk (Click here for details).

#8. Adam Silver says the Cavaliers' arena needs upgrades in order to host an all-star game (Click here for details).

#9. Rockets center Dwight Howard says the whole team quit in Game 3 (Click here for details).

#10. Cavaliers small forward LeBron James had 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists.

Sunday's NBA Playoff Results: 

Cavaliers 114 Hawks 111 (OT) (Cavaliers lead the Eastern Conference Finals 3-0).

---Ben Parker: Follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA news 

Wednesday Windmill: The Lakers are doomed

     The Los Angeles Lakers are doomed and there is nothing that can save them.  Ever since the death of Dr. Jerry Buss, their transcendent emperor, the Lakers have done nothing but make a series of asinine decisions courtesy of their slow-witted general manger Mitch Kupchak, Dr. Buss' slimy daughter Jeanie, and Magic Johnson, who despite being the most beloved Laker of all-time, finds ways to get in the press for making pompous statements laced with bitterness.

     The decision to sign Kobe Bryant to a 2 year, $48M contract isn't the only wrong that these monkeys have done. They ran Dwight Howard out of town after naming him the second coming of Shaquille O'Neal, signed Jeremy Lin with the hopes of him being the face of the franchise, and convinced Steve Nash to not retire so that they could trade his $9.7M expiring contract before the trade deadline (Click here for more details on that story).

     While there is the assumption that the Lakers will turn things around shortly due to their brand, location, and history, there is nothing that their current management has done to convince us that such a turnaround will ever happen. As a matter of fact, if their current trend of incompetence continues, the Lakers will soon become a traveling circus. They will play the Harlem Globetrotters in pick up basketball games and travel overseas to take pictures with insane leaders of third world countries as a token of good will from the United States.

     "We should send the Lakers", the President will say. "Word of the Lakers' shameful play hasn't yet reached that part of the world. They will be greeted as heroes and everybody will get a good chuckle from Kobe Bryant, who is able to tell jokes in many languages. They may be our only hope."

     The only exciting player on the entire Lakers' roster right now is Nick Young, a talented and quick-triggered shooting guard with a flair for entertaining. He fully embraces the Hollywood life, dating an Australian hip-hop sensation named Iggy Azalea and wearing flashy clothes after games. He's living the life and playing good basketball while he's at it. While he isn't a player who the Lakers can build a championship team around, he is at least a player who will get people to come to the games. The Lakers desperately need somebody to get people to come watch them play and they have found their man in Nick Young.

     What is alarming about all of this, is that the Lakers have fallen to the point that they just want a player who can put butts in the seats. Teams that have had this problem are some of the worst teams we've ever seen. Teams like the Clippers and Warriors from the 90s, the Wizards from the early 2000s, and the Denver Nuggets of every generation, are teams that have been in the market for these types of players. They know they can't win games, so they might as well lose while providing their fans with some quality entertainment.

     The fact that the Lakers are going down this path has to be alarming for Lakers fans, and what's worse is that there appears to be no turning back. So long as the current management is at the helm, I see no reason to believe that things will EVER get better for the Lakers. The Lakers are doomed and they will forever be a doormat for every other team in the NBA.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA news