Magic Johnson’s return means many things for the Los Angeles Lakers

If there was any doubt that big changes were coming to the Los Angeles Lakers, they went away Thursday morning, when the team stunned the basketball world with the announcement of the return of franchise icon Magic Johnson as an adviser “in all areas of basketball and business” to team owner Jeanie Buss.

The return of Johnson, an understandably revered figure in the city, to the team with which he spent his entire career wasn’t shocking. The surprise was the loud and clear signal about the future of the team – and, specifically, the future of executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss, Jeanie’s brother.

This is the third and final year of the three-year plan Jim Buss laid out to the Los Angeles Times in 2014, when he set out, in no uncertain terms, where he thought the franchise was going.

“If this doesn’t work in three to four years, if we’re not back on the top – and the definition of the top means contending for the Western Conference, contending for a championship – then I will step down because that means I have failed,” Jim Buss said at the time.

“There’s no question in my mind we will accomplish success. I’m not worried about putting myself on the line.”

After Wednesday’s 116-108 loss to the Washington Wizards, the Lakers are a combined 55-161 since Buss made that proclamation, and to add insult to injury have endured a series of embarrassing free-agency failures along the way. First Carmelo Anthony, then LaMarcus Aldridge, and finally Kevin Durant – who didn’t even grant the Lakers a meeting – spurned the NBA’s flagship franchise, which once was accustomed to luring superstars flock to Hollywood to be part of its championship-laden history.

Those days, however, couldn’t seem farther away. And that is why the embodiment of the “Showtime” Lakers – and, more important, someone who has taken repeated public shots at Buss for the job he’s done over the years – is now back with the franchise in an official capacity.

As Johnson tweeted about his excitement about returning to the franchise, he listed all of the people he met with: Jeanie Buss, younger brothers Joey and Jesse Buss, and general manager Mitch Kupchak.

What about Jim Buss? Well, he and Johnson had “a really good phone call.”

Later, in an interview on Spectrum, the cable home of the Lakers in Los Angeles, Johnson tried to downplay the impact he’s going to have on Jim Buss moving forward, saying that he’s there to help in any way he can.

“Jim is calling the shots, and I want him to understand,” Johnson said. “I’m just here to lend advice.”

The problem, though, is that no one believes that. Johnson hasn’t been shy in his public criticisms of Jim Buss. And while he’s largely avoided taking shots in return, Jim Buss couldn’t help himself in a 2015 interview with USA Today.

“Magic Johnson?” Jim Buss is quoted as saying with a laugh. “It’s like, ‘Really, dude? My dad made you a billionaire almost. Really? Where are you coming from?’ ”

So with the Lakers on pace to finish as the third-worst team in the league, the team appears to have given Johnson wide latitude in his new role. The list of duties in Thursday’s news release included: advising ownership on all business and basketball matters, collaborating with coaches, evaluating and mentoring players, assessing future franchise needs, and helping ownership determine the best path for growth and success.

In other words, Johnson will have a hand in whatever he wants.

But regardless of what ultimately happens with Jim Buss and/or Kupchak, whose future has also been under intense scrutiny, Johnson’s hiring kicks off a pivotal stretch for the NBA’s preeminent franchise. Although Luke Walton clearly looks like the answer to the head coaching question, the Lakers need to determine how they feel about their young core, including Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell and rookie Brandon Ingram.

Plus, the Lakers are going to be so bad that it could be good for the franchise. They will keep their first-round pick only if it is among the top three picks for a third consecutive year. If it was in the top three, they would also keep their 2019 first-rounder, which is currently set to be headed to the Orlando Magic as part of the Dwight Howard trade.

While many outside the organization question whether the team has its next franchise star already on the roster, this year’s absolutely loaded draft – including stud point guards in Washington’s Markelle Fultz and UCLA’s Lonzo Ball – should guarantee that, should the Lakers keep their pick, they’d have the franchise-changing player they’d need to go with their intriguing young core.

The Lakers yearn for the days of Showtime to return. Thursday, Jeanie Buss decided no one was better to do so than the man who created it himself, turning to Magic Johnson to bring some magic back to a franchise that desperately needs it.