Lakers’ Rob Pelinka gets warning about job entering 2026-2027 NBA season image
Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka has taken a lot of heat over the past couple of seasons for his inability to put together an above-average team around Luka Doncic and LeBron James. Factor that in with Austin Reaves, and there really was no reason the Lakers couldn't be one of the best teams in the NBA day in and day out.
Unfortunately, the Lakers' inability to ever find above-average 3-and-D wings came back to haunt them, and not having an above-average center next to Doncic was also an issue.
As for what his future looks like, one longtime NBA analyst believes he could eventually be on the hot seat. He even went so far as to say he might be past that hot seat.
“Rob Pelinka, he’s not in the crockpot. I don’t even think he’s on a hot seat. I think he’s in the exit row, and I don’t know when that’s going to happen. But I don’t think he will be involved with this team by the end of the season, if not sooner,” Bill Simmons said, H/T Heavy.
It's always tough to get a feel for what teams want to do in terms of general managers and presidents of basketball operations.
Not to say Pelinka has done a great job, but he also has limited assets to work with. Part of that is his own wrongdoing in making some of the deals he made in the past, so it's also important to recognize that he was able to add guys like Doncic for a minimal price compared with what it would have cost.
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