Speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday’s win over Golden State, Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said the team expects to make several additions to its front office in the offseason. As Dan Woike of The Athletic writes, the Lakers — who have one of the leanest front office staffs in the NBA — plan to emulate the MLB’s Dodgers, the other L.A.-based team owned by Mark Walter.
“The baseball system and the NBA system are totally different in terms of how you can build a roster and what you can do to spend. That said, I think just their draft process and sort of how they’ve established their farm system is amazing,” Pelinka said. “And I think there’s best practices in that as we evolve and get better going forward in those areas.
“And then, just the way they’ve sort of built out their front office, how deep it is. There is no expense they’ll spare in being the best sort of front office in the world. And you could just see that in the way they operate.”
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Pelinka said he has been in communication with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
“[It’s] been great to have sort of outside allies and advocates looking at the Dodgers and the success they’ve had and what they’ve built over there, and being able to tap into a person like Andrew Friedman for best practices,” Pelinka said. “He’s so incredibly smart and has done such an amazing job bringing championships to the Dodgers. So just to have another head of another team that you can, whether it’s a roster move, whether it’s a staff move, just someone that you can talk to has been an incredible resource.”
Pelinka also made it clear what the hierarchy of basketball operations decision-making would be for the foreseeable future, McMenamin adds. Governor Jeanie Buss will continue in that role for the next five years despite being a minority stakeholder following the October sale.
“Led by myself and Jeanie,” Pelinka said, “and with Mark’s support.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- The Lakers made one trade ahead of the deadline, sending Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick to Atlanta for sharpshooter Luke Kennard. “When you get to add the best shooter in the game to your group at the deadline, it’s a great opportunity. So, we seized it,” Pelinka said, per McMenamin.
- Although they only made a single deal, Pelinka said countless other possibilities were discussed, writes Benjamin Royer of The Southern California News Group. “We were very aggressive,” Pelinka said. “We worked incredibly hard. We evaluated numerous things. … I can’t go into specific players or conversations with other GMs that would impede the trust of our business going forward, but we were super aggressive, had multiple conversations. Had lots of them, got close on some things, but ended up making the move we made and we feel good about it.”
- Head coach JJ Redick said he was “excited” to have Kennard on the roster and emphasized he was going to encourage the impending free agent to take more shots, which has long been a criticism of Kennard’s game, according to Law Murray of The Athletic. Kennard had a solid debut, finishing with 10 points (on 4-of-7 shooting), two rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes. “I don’t want to say it’s not playing the right way, but I like to try to make the right play at all times,” Kennard said. “I feel like I know the game of basketball very well, and I will shoot it. I will be aggressive. I know that’s what they want me to do. I’m just having conversations with those guys, and I’m excited to do that.”
- Starting center Deandre Ayton missed Saturday’s game due to knee soreness and is considered day-to-day moving forward, Redick said after the victory (Twitter link via McMenamin).
- Backup center Jaxson Hayes apologized to his teammates and to the Wizards‘ mascot, whom he pushed during pregame introductions on January 30, resulting in a one-game suspension, per McMenamin (Twitter video link). Hayes said he was upset that the mascot stepped on his foot when he was stretching before the game.
Offer sheet time for cashed up lakers in 26/27. Not that care about baseball, but, aren’t or haven’t the Dodgers merely opened up the cheque book in a league without salary cap.
I’m sure I’ve heard L.A spending $100 mil more than the next most expensive team. Is that impressive?
I’m not sure how Rob’s still got a job.
Rob’s still got a job because he maintained his personal relationship with the idiot Nico Harrison, and answered the call. And when the dummy said he wanted to make the AD/Doncic trade he wasted no time in pulling that trigger. Smart dude!
That trade was made by ownership. Not Nico. And the return was Flagg.
You got any facts to support your conspiracy theory? Nope. Didn’t think so.
Rob did the equivalent of becoming a millionaire because he got a phone call asking if he wanted $990k
Drafting and developing NBA talent is so different than MLB, that it simply does not matter what the Dodgers are doing. There is no cross-over practices to emulate.
In NBA talent is king. And as we have been discussing re Kuminga’s (lack of) development, you basically need to give draftees a chance to play on the big league roster very soon after they are drafted, and if they can’t do that then they are not developing. There are not five levels of minor leagues to work through and get “seasoned” like baseball.
For example, how is that working out with Knecht? It’s hard in the NBA. You have to not mess up you pick, so that you have a player that can actually get PT and contribute. It’s a lot easier when you are also not trying to win all the time.
There’s no deferred contracts in the NBA, nor is there taking on a billion dollars in debt. Dodgers have seriously mortgaged their future on the promise of high inflation and rising costs. They bet against the economy. The lakers can’t do any of this. The dodgers front office isn’t better than anyone else, they just don’t have to worry about balancing the checkbook. Anyone could do that job.
You are absolutely incorrect about the Dodgers “mortgaging their future”. The cash on these contracts gets put in an account and collects interest. Dodgers are so cash heavy that these deals are a no brainer for them. It’s not going to be a situation where the Dodgers won’t have money for 15 years when they have to pay Ohtani and everyone else. It’s just a smarter way to allocate resources. The same ownership group just paid $10 billion for the Lakers. They won’t be strapped for cash
I really think Lakers need help down low….in their front office. Maybe a trade front office execs with Spurs so you don’t do dumb things like hire a podcaster with no coaching experience.
Kennards first shot was a beautiful flick that splashed in from three. I don’t know why, but this feels like a match made in heaven. I think Kennard is ready for the spotlight and that hecan really be that piece that creates an adequate bench mob for the Lakers. First Luka and then enter Luke man…
He’s a great three point shooter, but any time he’s on the floor he should be relentlessly targeted because his D is minus minus.
Nobody plays defense….