Fansided

The definitive Oklahoma City Thunder schadenfreude rankings

By Bryan Toporek

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 19: Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers before the game against the LA Clippers during the game on October 19, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 19: Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers before the game against the LA Clippers during the game on October 19, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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1. Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka

While KD, Seattle fans and Ricky Rubio have to be enjoying the Thunder’s meltdown, no one should be more delighted than Los Angeles Lakers team president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka.

Their interest in signing Paul George as a free agent is well-documented—in fact, they received a $500,000 fine in August for violating the NBA’s anti-tampering rule in relation to George—and the same is true vice versa. At the 2017 trade deadline, USA Today‘s Sam Amick repeatedly reported that George would be L.A.-bound as a free agent in 2018 “barring a title chance.”

Heading into the playoffs, George told reporters his first year with the Thunder “wasn’t a championship-or-bust” situation, adding, “It was just an opportunity to see what it’s like being here and just to naturally fall in love with it. And it’s been that. It’s been a lot of love here.”

His comments to ESPN back in January, however, should have Johnson and Pelinka giddy.

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“This summer will be huge,” George said at the time. “I’ve got a lot to think about. If we’re trending, if we’re going in the right direction, if I feel there is something that we’re building, and there’s a foundation—it would be kind of clueless, just stupid on my behalf to up and leave.”

Here’s guessing “going in the right direction” doesn’t mean a first-round knockout at the hands of a lower-seeded team, even if mitigating circumstances—between Andre Roberson’s absence and Utah being one of the NBA’s best teams since Rudy Gobert’s return in mid-January—can explain the upset away.

Is it too early for the NBA to start printing George’s Lakers jersey?

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