Rob Pelinka Talks Lakers, GM Role, Free Agency

New Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka is in attendance at the NCAA tournament in Memphis tonight to scout some young prospects that could be high on the team’s draft board this spring, including Kentucky’s Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox, as well as UCLA guard Lonzo Ball, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com notes. However, before taking in some Sweet 16 action, Pelinka spoke to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical about some of the challenges facing him as he takes over Mitch Kupchak‘s job in Los Angeles.

The entire discussion between Pelinka and Wojnarowski is worth listening to, particularly for Lakers fans, but here are a few highlights from the team’s new GM:

On making leap from player agent to general manager of a team:

I feel like this is the sweet spot for kind of who I am with my background having gone to law school, having worked as an agent for almost 20 years and understanding the cap and how the system works, how modern day players think. I went to business school and got a business degree and then basketball of course, having played in three Final Fours. Those are my passions in life and they all kind of converge in this job.”

On restoring the Lakers to greatness after a down period:

“We see an opportunity to cast a new vision for the future. The Lakers were always a team going back in history where all the other 29 teams were saying, ‘Hey, how can we do it like the Lakers do?’ and maybe we’ve lost that a little bit. I think it’s time to think that way again and hopefully get back to a position where others are saying, ‘Gosh, look at how the Lakers are doing things. We’d love it if we could do it that way.’

“The Lakers are the Lakers when there’s a star in the building. The greats are so easily listed. Magic, Shaq, Kobe, Jerry West, Wilt. I could go on and on down the list. We feel like this is a perfect platform for hopefully that next player to eventually say, ‘There’s no city like L.A., there’s no team that has the legacy like the Lakers. This could be my home someday. The perfect platform to accomplish what I want to with my career.’ I think that’s an important thing that we’ll want to make sure happens.”

On how to recruit free agents when top FAs in recent years haven’t even met with the Lakers:

“The first two or three weeks have been so encouraging because both Magic [Johnson] and I have talked to most of the top agents, and the feedback we’re getting is, ‘Man, there feels like a fresh start there. It seems like a new leadership team with a new vision.’ People are excited about hopefully becoming a part of that.

“I think having [been an agent] for almost 20 years, the word I keep coming back to when I’m on the phone with some of the player representatives is the word ’empathy.’ I’ve walked in their shoes, I know what it’s like. I know what their clients are looking for in a team… That’s helpful for us to meet those needs, and so far we’re very optimistic that those relationships are being strengthened and that we’re going to have a shot to change what’s happened in the last two or three seasons with future free agent classes.”

On why the new-look Lakers should be appealing to players around the league:

“The other day someone shared a statistic with me. … More Lakers jerseys have been sold in the world than all other 29 teams combined. If I’m a player and I’m thinking about my future and I’m thinking about the mega-watt power of the Lakers’ brand; the powder-keg of relationships that you can form in L.A. with entertainment moguls; the legacy of excellence and championships here that the Buss family is going to continue to provide; Magic Johnson‘s vision; hopefully some of my expertise in trades and managing the cap. All of those things combined. I think if I’m an NBA player out there and I’m seeing all that, I think, ‘Wow, that’s a package I could put my trust in. That’s a future that looks really, really promising.'”