Magic Johnson on D'Angelo Russell Trade: 'We Moved and We Kept Moving'
With Magic Johnson at the helm of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball operations, the team's unexpected decision to trade D'Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets have been one of the most controversial moves this trade season.
Fans and media following the National Basketball Association player trades have a lot of questions for Magic after his move to trade one of the rising stars of the Lakers franchise. While it was widely seen as a move to free as much salary cap space as possible ahead of the 2018 offseason, many people wonder if trading D'Angelo Russell was worth it.
Johnson himself stands firm in his decision, as he stated to ESPN in an earlier interview. Asked if he regrets trading Russell, he answered that he has moved past that decision already. "I am not one of them dudes," Johnson said.
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"When I say bye, that's it. I keep moving. I can't get caught in emotions and all that. That is not who I am. We moved and we kept moving. After that trade we went on to the next thing," the team president added, as quoted by Silver Screen and Roll.
Magic spoke with the media following an introduction for new roster member Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, when the subject of the Russell trade came up. He shared that the team has five other NBA franchises asking about Russell, and it was not a difficult decision to part ways with the point guard.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report has shared with social media the gist of Johnson's statement. "Magic said once he moves on from someone, there's no looking back," Pincus wrote in his Twitter post on Wednesday, July 19.
While the trade has lost them one of their promising talents, it also relieved the Los Angeles Lakers of Timofey Mozgov's heavy contract, opening the possibility of new talent coming in next year.
