Magic Johnson wanted the Lakers to pursue DeMar DeRozan over Russell Westbrook in the offseason.
The Lakers legend discussed this season’s roster makeup during back-to-back appearances on ESPN’s morning shows Get Up and First Take Monday.
After praising the Lakers’ top scorer, LeBron James, Johnson said the franchise face was to blame for LA’s passing over DeRozan – who signed a three-year, $82 million contract with the Spurs last August via a sign-and-trade signed US dollars.
“The blame he has to take is the fact that DeRozan ended up in Chicago and not with the Lakers. DeRozan wanted to play for the Lakers and when I got the call from his agent [Aaron Goodwin]I called the Lakers and said, ‘Hey [DeRozan] wanna come home,'” Johnson said on Get Up.
“We could have made that deal. But when Russell and LeBron started talking, they nixed that deal and left with Westbrook… If you signed DeRozan and just traded [Kyle] Kuzma to Buddy Hield, we’d be playing with these two guys in the Western Conference Championship this year.”
A native of Compton, California, DeRozan attended USC for a year before the Raptors drafted him 9th overall in the 2009 NBA draft.
DeMar DeRozan (11) plays for the Bulls against the Clippers on March 31, 2022. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Lakers acquired Westbrook last summer in hopes of forming a Big 3 with James and Anthony Davis, but their master plan never materialized. Injuries kept James and Davis sidelined throughout the season, and Westbrook struggled at both ends of the court for most of the season.
“I called [Lakers general manager] rob [Pelinka] and said, ‘DeRozan wants to come play.’ So I got out of the way … I went on vacation and the next thing I hear is we’re not going to sign DeRozan, we’re trading for Westbrook,” Johnson said on First Take later in the day.
“They had already made the deal with Buddy Hield and then withdrew. You have DeRozan and Hield, then you could have kept [Alex] Caruso and KCP [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope]. These guys are defenders. They’re defenders on the ball… We’d be fighting for the Western Conference Finals.”
LeBron James reacts during the Lakers loss to the Pelicans on April 1, 2022. Getty Images
Hield was rumored to be leaving the Kings for the Lakers in a deal centered around Talen Horton-Tucker. Caruso signed a four-year, $37 million deal with the Bulls last August — four days after the Lakers traded Caldwell-Pope to Washington as part of a package for Westbrook.
Westbrook is the highest-paid player on the LA roster at $44 million, ahead of LeBron James ($41 million). The former league MVP and the Lakers reportedly have a mutual interest in finding him a new team in the summer.
Last November, DeRozan even said he thinks he’s going to be a Laker.
“I felt like going to the Lakers was a done deal and we were going to find out. I wanted to come home,” DeRozan told Yahoo Sports. “The business side of things just didn’t work out. A few things didn’t add up. It did not work. It’s just part of the business, part of the game. My next option was definitely Chicago. So, looking back, it worked out well.”
Magic Johnson and his wife Cookie at the Governors Awards on March 25, 2022. Getty Images
The Post’s Marc Berman previously reported that the Knicks were one of the teams DeRozan was most interested in before committing to Chicago.
Johnson expressed disappointment with the Lakers, who started Monday in 11th place in the Western Conference with four games left in the regular season. Westbrook’s failure to find his rhythm within the injury-plagued roster contributed greatly to the Lakers’ season-long struggles.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, DeRozan is playing history-making basketball and setting career records.
As of April 3, the Lakers have a 0.7 percent chance of making the NBA playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight predictions. The play-in tournament starts on April 12th and ends on April 15th.
LeBron James (L), Anthony Davis (3) and Russell Westbrook (0) on the bench late in the Lakers’ loss to the Nuggets on April 3, 2022. Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel has also been at the center of speculation about his job security amid LA’s disastrous season.
“We can’t just point fingers at Vogel,” Johnson said on Get Up. “Russell, you have to take responsibility and say, ‘I haven’t played well for four, five months.’ AD, you have to stay healthy… Maybe they need to look at you next season and say maybe you need to be somewhere else… Someone has to take the blame. Someone has to be the scapegoat, and that will likely be Vogel.”
Johnson added that he “feels sorry for LeBron” for the nature of the season the 37-year-old is having. James is averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists this season.
Last month, James overtook Karl Malone for second on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, behind only Lakers legend Kareem Abudl-Jabbar.
James sat out Sunday’s 129-118 loss to the Nuggets with a nagging ankle injury. The 31-47 Lakers play the west-leading Suns Tuesday in Phoenix.