Despite the Lakers' very public attempts to trade their entire roster for Anthony Davis, Magic Johnson and co. came up empty-handed as Thursday's trade deadline expired.
Now, Magic is prepared to meet the team in Philadelphia this weekend so he can address the messy situation with the players.
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According to the Los Angeles Times' Broderick Turner, Johnson will "[emphasize] that the NBA is a business and that this franchise is about winning championships and doing all it can to accomplish that goal."
Per the LA Times:
"Johnson will listen to every player who wants to speak, hoping to have an open dialogue with his team so they can all move forward together, one person said."
(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Magic and Lakers GM Rob Pelinka were reportedly willing to ship out Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Ivica Zubac, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and two first-round picks in exchange for Anthony Davis, but the Pelicans stood their ground at the deadline.
The Lakers responded by defeating the Celtics in Boston on Thursday night behind a triple-double performance from LeBron, 25 points from Kuzma, and a Rajon Rondo game-winner at the buzzer.
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As a result of Thursday night's thrilling 129-128 victory, the Lakers improved to 28-27 on the season which has them sitting in 10th place in the Western Conference behind the Sacramento Kings, and 1.5 games back of the eighth seeded Los Angeles Clippers. And with the Clippers trading Tobias Harris to the Philadelphia 76ers, it's reasonable to believe they'll slide in the standings as the playoff push heats up.
Up next for the Lakers is a nationally televised showdown against the Sixers on Sunday. That game, airing on ABC, is scheduled to tipoff at 3:30pm ET.
