3 Magic Johnson Replacements as Lakers Next President of Basketball Operations

Magic Johnson shocked the NBA world Tuesday night when he announced he was stepping down as president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, this was even news to Lakers' owner Jeanie Buss, who apparently had no idea Magic was even thinking of stepping down.

Rob Pelinka is still employed as the team's general manager, and Wednesday afternoon, the Lakers announced Pelinka will remain with the team in his current role moving forward.

But if Buss does decide to bring in some additional help, here are three potential replacements for Magic as president of basketball operations for the Lakers.

3. Kobe Bryant

Why not replace Magic with another Lakers' legend, Kobe Bean Bryant? If Buss is looking to curry favor with die-hard Lakers fans, there's no better choice than Kobe. The five-time NBA Champion has found instant success working in film and television, so there's little indication he'd be willing to take the job. But if he's interested, hiring Kobe would instantly excite Lakers fans, and his infamous Mamba mentality suggests he'd be far more committed to the position than Magic ever was.

2. Masai Ujiri

If Buss is looking to make a big splash, she could attempt to pry Masai Ujiri away from the Toronto Raptors. While the Raptors would likely need to receive some compensation in order to release Ujiri from his contract, this isn't as outlandish as it may seem. Kawhi Leonard has given no indication that he's willing to stay with the Raptors beyond this season. If Kawhi leaves, the Raptors would likely retool around Pascal Siakam, and Masai might not want to oversee another rebuild. Masai is one of the most respected executives in basketball, and his hiring would instantly give the Lakers some much needed stability and legitimacy in the front office.

1. David Griffin

David Griffin was the architect of the Cleveland Cavaliers team that took down the Golden State Warriors in the 2015-16 NBA Finals, so he has experience working with LeBron James. That Griffin managed to assemble such a talented team despite working for the notoriously meddlesome Dan Gilbert really speaks to his basketball accumen. If Griffin is willing, he'd be a great hire for the Lakers, and his previous work suggests he could do an excellent job.

Big Cat, Cash Back - If Tiger takes home the green jacket, we’ll give you back your entry fees — even if he’s not in your lineup. Contest locks at 7 am ET on 4/11. Only lineups in the $1M PGA Mega Eagle contest on April 11, 2019 will count toward this promotion. https://www.fanduel.com/big-cat-cash-back

Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.