EL SEGUNDO, Calif. And now the real season begins for the Los Angeles Lakers. At least that's what the fans of the 16-time NBA champions repeatedly have been told while Los Angeles missed the playoffs and finished with a losing record for the fifth consecutive year. Ever since they took over the Lakers' basketball operations a year ago, Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka have founded their rebuilding project around the acquisition of one or two elite free agents this summer – or next summer, they've recently amended.