New Lakers president says Rob Pelinka has the ‘power’ to run basketball operations
Heading into what will be a critical offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers as they look to reshape their roster around Luka Doncic, Rob Pelinka will be the man making the decisions.
This may leave Lakers fans uneasy, but it came from new Lakers president of business operations Lon Rosen (the longtime Dodgers executive) in his introductory press conference on Tuesday, with the quote via Dan Woike of The Athletic.
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“Rob has the power to do what he does. He’s talked about it and I can talk about it,” Rosen said Tuesday. “[Dodgers executives] Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi are involved in helping Rob out a little. It gives you a deeper bench and I think Rob appreciates that. It’s unique, but they have a skill set (where) they can transfer some of that here. That’s really the way we look at it.
“I have a great relationship with Rob. I’ve known Rob Pelinka since he represented Kobe.”
This echoes what Pelinka himself said recently.
“[Pelinka, Walter, and team governor Jeanie Buss] they’re working really, really strong and well together,” Pelinka said. “It’s also been nice to have, you know, outside allies and supporters, looking at the Dodgers and the success they’ve had and what they’ve built over there and being able to tap into a person like Andrew Friedman for best practices. He’s so incredibly smart and did an amazing job bringing championships to the Dodgers. So just having another leader from another team to be able to talk to, whether it’s a roster move, whether it’s a staff move, has been an incredible resource. It was great working with Mark and everyone around him.”
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Pelinka may be in charge this offseason, but it also looks like a test for him. If what he builds doesn’t live up to expectations, Pelinka’s seat will likely get very hot.
With LeBron James and his $52.7 million coming off the books (he’s a free agent and the expectation around the league is that he’ll return to Cleveland for a season, even if LeBron said no decision has been made), the Lakers will have at least $47 million in cap space and plenty of flexibility. The Lakers may be going star-hunting — Giannis Antetokounmpo, but he’d have to work his way to Los Angeles, or maybe Kawhi Leonard, depending on how things develop with the Aspiran investigation — but what the Lakers really need are spaced defenders and shooters. Dallas reached the Finals with Doncic leading the offense because they surrounded him with good centers who could set up a strong pick-and-roll at the rim, drawing a defense and shooters and defenders to the wing. The Lakers are expected to re-sign Austin Rivers this summer, but will first look to find those other pieces via trade or free agency (Payton Watson, Tari Eason, Tobias Harris, Andrew Wiggins and Dean Wade have developed as players the Lakers could target).
The Lakers will look a lot different next season. Their appearance could determine Pelinka’s future with the Lakers.