EL SEGUNDO — As the Lakers season concluded in fairly unceremonious fashion Monday night, the looming sense of uncertainty over the offseason finally set in.
Austin Reaves and LeBron James are going to be free agents, the former widely expected to decline his player option. And the latter is a 41-year-old unrestricted free agent unlike any other in league history – a four-time MVP deciding whether he has a 24th NBA season in his DNA – who said Monday night that he remains uncertain over whether he will extend his historic career.
But if President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka has any say, he’d like both of his star players remaining in purple and gold, recreating a trio with the franchise’s north star: NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic.
Pelinka said Tuesday morning at the UCLA Health Training Center that the Lakers would “love to have James” back on their roster for another season should the future Hall of Famer decide to stay for another year, and that when it comes to Reaves – who is eligible for a five-year, $241 million max-level contract if he becomes a free agent – the Lakers’ front office boss said that the 27-year-old guard has made it clear that he wants to remain in Los Angeles.
“(Reaves) started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,” Pelinka said during the team’s exit press conference Tuesday alongside coach JJ Redick. “And we feel the same way. We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the Purple and Gold. As you know … there’s rules and timing to all of that, but I think both sides have made it abundantly clear that we want to work something out where he continues his prolific career here.”
The combination of Doncic, James and Reaves is a trio that Pelinka called the team’s “three quarterbacks,” adding that Redick did what he considered a great job of handling the stars in their respective roles through their lengthy injuries during the season. Redick’s strategic construction of the team included James becoming the third option on the Lakers during their 16-2 record through March, which Pelinka said was “proof of concept” that their best players could drive success together.
Looking at the pitfalls, however, of how the Lakers dropped out of the playoffs in a second-round sweep to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the depth of the Lakers’ roster turned into a clear weakness. Redick said that in order to become a team like the Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs, with playable depth into the annals of the bench, they need to be able to lean on internal development, the NBA draft, trades and free agency to make sure they have depth beyond a potentially preferred eight- or nine-man rotation.
“Whatever it is, we need to build depth beyond just an eight- or nine-man rotation because you’re naturally going to have injuries,” Redick said. “But you look at OKC’s roster, you look at San Antonio’s roster, they have 13 high-level rotation players minimum. And that’s a luxury to have in the NBA and it’s one of the reasons why those teams are really good.”
Pelinka used the phrase “reconstruction” multiple times Tuesday, a fitting describer for what this offseason ahead looks like for the Lakers.
He referenced working with the Dodgers “folks” along with President of Business Operations Lon Rosen to retrofit the El Segundo practice facility with a biomechanics lab, new movement labs and a recovery lab – all of which is related to moving the Lakers’ G League facility to Coachella Valley to make room for construction, set to start in the months ahead.
“JJ and I are so grateful to work under (governor) Jeanie (Buss)’ leadership and (controlling owner) Mark Walter, and just the energy he’s brought to us to kind of build this out,” Pelinka said. “We have already started that reconstruction and have made hires in our front office and continue to develop new technologies and new areas that we’ve turned on for the draft for free agency.”
Pelinka added that the Lakers will continue expanding their front office, hiring two assistant general managers. One of those hires will be focused on scouting, the NBA draft and player evaluation, while the other will primarily attend to salary cap analytics and data. Pelinka said the Lakers have cast a wide net and are currently interviewing candidates for both positions.
Back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time since 2011 was something to be proud of, Pelinka said.
But he said it isn’t something to be satisfied with. Satisfaction comes with hanging a banner in the rafters.
“This is a market with championship expectations,” Pelinka said. “And now begins the process for leadership here – JJ (and) myself – to deconstruct the things in the season that went well. And then to look at the parts of the season that we can elevate and bring to the next level.”