For a brief window in time, rumors surfaced that the Los Angeles Lakers were involved in trade talks for then-Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins. The front office (which at the time consisted of the since-deposed Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss) reportedly had refused to include 2016 second-overall Brandon Ingram in any offers for Cousins.
That report from the time makes the latest nugget from Ramona Shelburne of ESPN’s opus on the Buss family dynamics all the more interesting. Shelburne wrote at length on the lack of communication between the front office and then-Lakers advisor Magic Johnson, a dysfunctional relationship that came to a head during the Lakers’ talks to acquire Cousins.