Report: Lakers looking to beef up analytics department under Magic Johnson

The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to make major changes to how their analytics department is used within the organization, a source close to the team tells Silver Screen and Roll.

Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are looking to fill as many as seven new positions to beef up the analytics department.

ESPN’s Baxter Holmes reported Thursday that Yuju Lee, director of analytics stepped down after four years with the team. Per the source, Lee was asked to go from director of analytics to a manager of the team of analysts the Lakers are attempting to put together.

When Johnson was first hired, he spoke at length about the need to include analytics in the franchise’s thinking. This appears to be him taking steps to fulfill that promise.

With the NBA Draft Lottery just over a week away, getting things like this in order will be a high priority, as there will be plenty of work for the new analytics teams to do in preparation for a busy offseason.

The Lakers declined to comment on this story.

Anthony Irwin is the host of the Locked on Lakers Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter, @AnthonyIrwinLA.