Report: Magic, Lakers players to meet following Davis fiasco

Los Angeles Lakers president Magic Johnson reportedly will hold a meeting with players after a failed attempt at trading many of them for New Orleans star Anthony Davis. The meeting will be held this weekend in Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday, citing two unnamed sources.

Johnson's goal will be to motivate the Lakers to make a push toward the playoffs with 27 games left in the regular season, a source said. He reportedly will stress that the pursuit of Davis was typical NBA business and that the Lakers' goal is win championships. The Times reported that Johnson also will tell the players they need to commit to being professionals and will invite them to say what they are thinking so that the team can move past the chaos of the past week.

The Lakers offered two first-round draft picks to the Pelicans, along with players Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Ivica Zubac. Zubac and Michael Beasley subsequently were traded Thursday to the Los Angeles Clippers for forward Mike Muscala.

Entering play Friday, the Lakers (28-27) are in 10th place in the NBA Western Conference and 1.5 games behind the Clippers for the final playoff spot in the conference. --Field Level Media

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