Do the Los Angeles Lakers need a front office reboot?

Besides the arrival of LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers’ front office hasn’t done anything to aspire confidence moving forward.

The Los Angeles Lakers‘ front office has been in the news over the last couple months, and yet none of the particular stories involving them does any good to their credibility.

First, there was the all-out effort to acquire New Orleans Pelicans megastar Anthony Davis near the trade deadline, an attempt that saw most if not all of L.A.’s valuable assets on the table only to find out the Pelicans had no intentions of dealing their franchise talent. This left the Lakers to pick up the pieces of what had become a fractured locker room.

Following that roughly week-long saga, Magic felt it was necessary to reunite the players under the common goal of making the playoffs with more of a nurturing approach, only to backtrack on those comments in a more defensive stance with a lack of sympathy for the players he essentially dragged through the mud.

We all remember those questionable signings the Lakers made following the arrival of LeBron James. Guys like Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley had all produced solid careers, but none seemed to fit the mold of what had come to be a prototypical player next to the King.

In justifying these moves, Magic cited the desire to keep James’ minutes down and lighten his load with other playmakers, not wanting a repeat of LeBron’s’ most recent season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he was forced to assume a tremendous burden at the offensive end.

The logic wasn’t crazy, but it was flawed. James had come to thrive with space to operate and snipers to find on his way to eight consecutive Finals appearances. Changing course was a risk that failed to pay off as the Lakers have posted the league’s ninth-worst offensive rating en route to a 31-36 record, far out from playoff contention.

The failure was only exacerbated considering who the Lakers let leave their grasp. The seven-foot Brook Lopez, a recently developed shooter converting 36.6 percent of his 6.4 3-point attempts this season, was in L.A. just last year. He wound up with the Milwaukee Bucks for just $3.3 million.

Lopez could’ve thrived next to the pass-happy James, and while there may have been a stylistic preference in bringing in the more athletic JaVale McGee to man the middle, there was little reasoning behind giving the recently traded Michael Beasley $3.5 million when the Lakers had a trio of talented forwards but lacked depth at the center spot.

To make matters even worse, The Athletic’sˆBill Oram recently reported that following the acquisition of James, Magic had ignored a number of pleas from L.A.’s coaching staff to bring back Lopez and forward Julius Randle, who is now posting career-best numbers for the Pelicans. To be fair, his fit on this forward-heavy roster would be up for debate, as well as the likelihood of re-signing him without dipping into their precious cap space given his desire for a multi-year deal.

For as popular as Magic Johnson is in the City of Angels, aside from bringing in a superstar looking for any reason to go live out West, he’s been a horrible front office executive for the Lakers in his tenure, with controversial signings as well as the trading of a point guard who is now an All-Star in D’Angelo Russell.

When it comes to general manager Rob Pelinka, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says “Agents, GMs, they do not like this man. They don’t take his calls a lot of times, they don’t want to talk to him.” Given Pelinka’s status as a former agent, it would make sense for him to have a fractured relationship with those around the league, leaving questions as to what exactly his impact is in any sense of the word.

Neither Magic nor Pelinka had any front office experience. They were given the main ingredient in a recipe to build a LeBron-led team and they still messed it up. Is there any level of confidence around Los Angeles that they can actually put their cap space to use with a second superstar-level player?

Over the last five years or so, the Lakers have always seemed to care more about style over substance, with decisions that look better in the headlines than they do within the organization. If they are serious about contending for titles and maximizing the final years of LeBron’s prime, it may take a new front office look from owner Jeanie Buss to make the moves necessary to do so.