The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t hesitate to make early-season adjustments to their front office, firing Jesse and Joey Buss (Jeanie Buss’ brothers).
However, in a former NBA executive’s mind, Los Angeles should take things a step further and complete a massive front office move involving its general manager, Rob Pelinka.
“The Lakers won’t win a title in the Luka (Doncic) era if they keep Rob,” the former executive stated, according to Lakers Daily's Ashish Mathur. “Mark (Walter) needs to hire someone with a smarter basketball mind than Rob to run the basketball operations.”
“I really liked the move of getting rid of Joey and Jesse. Everyone always gives them credit for finding Austin (Reaves), but Austin chose to work out for the Lakers and chose not to get drafted by the (Detroit) Pistons so he could land with the Lakers. That wasn’t some grand find by the Buss brothers. That was all Austin and his camp.”
While the Lakers have struggled to succeed in the postseason since their 2020 NBA title victory, Pelinka deserves credit for making arguably the smartest trade of all time.
With Anthony Davis reportedly having a damaged relationship with the Lakers and having perhaps the worst injury luck in NBA history, Pelinka had a hunch that it was in Los Angeles’ best interest to trade him to the Dallas Mavericks for Doncic on Feb. 2.
With Doncic entering his prime years and already possessing the ability to lead a franchise to the NBA finals, it’s safe to say the Lakers are in good hands for the foreseeable future.
Pelinka has also mastered the art of appeasing a franchise-elevating asset like Doncic, as the 55-year-old has surrounded the 6-foot-6 star with the pieces necessary to remain in contention in the Western Conference.
For those reasons, it’s highly unlikely the Lakers will move on from Pelinka anytime soon.
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