Larry Bird, the Pacers’ president of basketball operations, had planned to call longtime rival and friend Magic Johnson after the trade deadline to congratulate him on being named to the same role with the Lakers, according to Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. However, as Ganguli details, Johnson beat Bird to the punch by a couple days, placing a call to the Pacers executive prior to the deadline.
That phone call sparked a series of rumors about Paul George, who reportedly has interest in signing with the Lakers as a free agent in 2018 if he doesn’t re-up with the Pacers. According to Bird though, the discussion lasted less than five minutes, and he downplayed the idea that George was the subject of the conversation.
In addition to weighing in on that phone call with his old friend, Bird also offered some advice to the new Lakers president of basketball operations and provided some perspective on how often he expects to do business with Johnson. Here are those highlights from his conversation with Ganguli:
On the pre-deadline phone call with Johnson, and the idea that they discussed George:
“I wasn’t motivated to move Paul George at the deadline. I can’t remember if it was even brought up or not. I don’t think it was. It’s all fake news anyway. You know that. Somebody’s gonna start it and [it] just was a snowball effect. [The phone call] was not about Paul George.”
On his advice for Johnson on running an NBA franchise:
“You can put a team together, what you think is gonna be a pretty solid team on paper, and then when they get out there they don’t mesh well. I’m sort of going through that this year. We thought we had a decent team that we thought could compete for the fourth or fifth seed. We haven’t played as well as I thought we would all year. That’s the growing pains. That’s the frustration about it.”
On the odds that he and Magic will make trades with any frequency:
“I’ve been here for, I don’t know how many years, 12, 13, and I haven’t made a deal with [Celtics GM] Danny Ainge yet. That should tell you something. I’ve always been closer with Danny, because I played with him for all them years, than Earvin. … Talked to Danny about a lot of trades, but never did one. I just feel it’s gotta be a fair deal for both sides and we never got there. Maybe he thought it was fair, but I didn’t think so.”
Good sign verbally, and past non trades mean there’s no history of favoritism . Still I think he’ll want a Kings ransom for PG
I really dont see Magic moving Russell,Ingram, or Randle.
That’s fine, then you won’t be getting Paul George. And with the difference in money between staying on your team or going elsewhere with the new cba, the draft is the only place you can hope to acquire a star. I don’t understand why some lakers people think a star is going to get donated there.
Im not a Lakers fan but I would not sacrifice either of those 3 for George, yes George is a great two way player but he has a roster good enough to be better then a lower seed in the East. If the Lakers were to get George who are you pairing with him because he isn’t taking you to the Finals, Ingram will be at George’s level within 2-3 years anyways if not better. Maybe McMillan is not the coach for the Pacers, the dude is average they should have kept Vogel or gone for JVG, clearly there is a disconnect between McMillan and George, its just not right connection there and Myles Turner’s progression has sort of stalled someone like Ewing would do wonders for Turner as a head coach.
Woah pump the brakes, PG is a superstar and Ingram is a rookie shooting 37%. Dont see how u can say Ingram will be at PG’s level or even better.
George was not that good his first season, Ingram is already a better shooter and playmaker, give it time.
I like Ingram and I think he’ll develop into a good player, but i see him more of becoming like Luol Deng than George.
Luol Deng? Ingram will be way better then Deng. Ingram will be a first team all nba player in his prime, Russell might never become a 1st team all nba player but I see him having an illustrous career with at least 1 MVP award. The Lakers should sign Plumlee this summer to play center alongside Randle, start Clarkson.
How is Russell never going to become a 1st team All-NBA player but will win at least 1 MVP award? You’re basically saying he’s going to be named the best player in the league, without being named the best player at his position (or at least a top 2 player at his position since All-NBA does G/F/C).
He can be a 1st team all nba guard and win MVP, people are just impatient. Russell is going to dominate soon just a matter of time, he has been getting shots up ever since Williams was moved and averaging 22 ppg, oh yea he’s 21.
Plumlee isn’t a good defender. Lakers need a rim protector to fill in for another year or two before Zubac is fully developed.
magic is going to build the Lakers threw this year’s free agency… and be in the playoffs next year…. without pg
How? Who is going to the Lakers really.
Bad GMs are more likely to agree to trade offers than good GMs. I don’t think the lake of trades with LA or Boston has anything to do with rivalry. It has everything to do with the fact that the people running those teams are not morons who make egregious trades.
Why trade with a smart guy in LA when you can go fleece the Knicks instead?