And with a few outlets reporting that the Lakers may have an interest in Johnson, it’s been confirmed that they won’t be able to do so – because he’s already been traded away from the Lakers this season, with the rule saying a player can’t be either. Trade and then rejoin the same team.
The trade came two months before the season began, though, when the Lakers traded him and Tayl Horton-Tacker in exchange for defensive stopper Patrick Beverley – who had recently been traded himself.
What makes the situation seem unfair, though, is that Johnson was traded after his transfer from the Lakers, when he was sent from the Utah Jazz to the San Antonio Spurs – thus making the Jazz the team he couldn’t bring back, not the Lakers.
