Apr 18, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka watches during game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
At the start of the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers spoke about building out their basketball staff, planning to hire two assistant general managers to work under Rob Pelinka: one focused on analytics and the other on player development. The Lakers did begin that process, hiring one of the two while also announcing other additions to the staff as well, but things have slowed down and the second assistant GM still has yet to be hired.
And now with the Lakers being sold to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, and all of the drama surrounding the team and its ownership, it looks as if building out the remainder of the basketball department is on hold until everything up top is resolved, via Dan Woike of The Athletic:
According to a pair of league sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly discuss the Lakers’ internal operations, there is a belief around the NBA that the team cannot complete the buildout of its basketball operations department until the ownership situation is resolved. After laying out a vision for a pair of assistant general managers, with one focused on analytics and one focused on player scouting, the team has yet to make any inroads in pro scouting. With preseason games set to start in a little more than a month, filling a staff and getting everyone accustomed to a system was already going to be difficult. Now it feels like a distant hope more than a reality.
This is an extremely unfortunate circumstance and something that the Lakers need to get ironed out immediately. It is impossible for this franchise to get back to the top of the NBA and compete for championships without building out that staff and getting every department on the same page.
Between the questions surrounding the sale from Walter to Iger and Kushner, to the Buss siblings voting to sale their remaining shares as well, and then to Jeanie Buss contesting that sale which would see her removed as governor of the Lakers, there are a number of things that need to get worked out. And now it could be threatening to affect the on-court product which is a no-win situation for everyone.
Buss family reportedly embarrassed at Mark Walter selling Lakers so quickly
The decision of Walter to sale the Lakers came as a complete shock to everyone, including the Buss family themselves who were reportedly embarrassed at how quickly he chose to move on from the team.
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