Lakers’ Rosen: Pelinka ‘Empowered’ To Continue Running Basketball Ops
The Lakers introduced their new president of business operations to the media on Tuesday, with longtime Los Angeles Dodgers executive Lon Rosen speaking to reporters for the first time since being hired by the NBA team.
As Dan Woike of The Athletic writes, there has been speculation around the league since Mark Walter took over majority control of the franchise about whether the new leadership group might make front office changes that impact Rob Pelinka‘s future with the Lakers. However, Rosen made it clear on Tuesday that he envisions Pelinka remaining in his position as Los Angeles’ president of basketball operations and general manager.
“I just run the business side, Rob’s empowered to do what he does,” Rosen said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “(Dodgers executives) Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, they have involvement helping Rob a bit. It gives you a deeper bench, and I think Rob appreciates that. And it is unique. But they have a skill set that they can transfer some of it here. And that’s really how we look at it.
“Look, I have a really good relationship with Rob. I’ve known Rob Pelinka from when he was representing Kobe (Bryant). I met him many, many years ago.”
Rosen’s comments line up with the remarks Pelinka made to the media in the wake of this month’s trade deadline. He said at that time that the Lakers would be expanding their basketball operations department in the coming months and want to build a deep front office like that of the Dodgers, the MLB team Walter owns. But Pelinka also stressed that he, governor Jeanie Buss, and Walter would continue to be the ones making basketball decisions, and Rosen confirmed as much.
Pelinka was originally hired as the Lakers’ general manager under president of basketball operations Magic Johnson in 2017. He took over control of the front office in 2019, was promoted to VP of basketball operations in 2020 and was eventually promoted again to president of basketball operations in the spring of 2025, receiving a contract extension at that time as well.
Notably, before joining the Dodgers in 2012 as the team’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Rosen was the longtime agent for Johnson, the former Lakers star and lead basketball executive who unexpectedly resigned from his role in 2019 and accused Pelinka of disparaging him behind his back.
Johnson and Pelinka have mended fences since then and Rosen referred to Johnson on Tuesday as one of his “closest friends,” but the Lakers’ new president of business opreations said the Hall-of-Famer won’t be returning to any sort of day-to-day role in the organization.
“Earvin’s involved with all types of things,” Rosen said, per McMenamin. “He owns football teams, baseball teams, soccer teams, insurance companies, a lot of things. He’s always going to have some type of involvement with all the teams, but he is not going to have a day-to-day involvement. It’s going to be no different since he left the Lakers.
“Obviously, he’s a huge fan of the Lakers, but he’s not going to be, ‘Hey, Rob, go sign this player. Do that.’ He’ll always be involved with all the teams that he’s involved in, but no, he’s not going to have day-to-day involvement, at all. He is a super Laker fan and he’ll continue to be a super Laker fan. It’s not bad to have that.”
The Lakers have an eventful offseason on tap in 2026. They’re in position to create significant cap room and will be able to trade up to three first-round picks after having just one tradable first-rounder at this year’s deadline. Austin Reaves will also be up for a new contract, while LeBron James‘ deal is set to expire too. The four-time MVP has yet to confirm whether he plans to continue his career — and if he does so, whether he still wants to be a Laker.
Lakers Notes: Front Office, Pelinka, Kennard, Ayton, Hayes
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.
Pacific Notes: Kuminga, Lakers, Gillespie, Clippers
With the Warriors off to an up-and-down start and sitting over .500 by a single game, there’s a growing expectation “in various corners of the league” that forward Jonathan Kuminga will be on the move prior to the February 5 trade deadline, Marc Stein writes for his Substack (subscription required).
While a veteran executive who spoke to Stein referred to Kuminga’s two-year, $46.8MM contract (which includes a second-year team option) as “one of the best trade chips in the league,” sources who talked to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps about Kuminga aren’t convinced that Golden State will be able to find a trade partner that covets the 23-year-old and is willing to send the Warriors the sort of value they’ll be seeking for the former No. 7 overall pick.
“Who is going to take him?” one Eastern Conference scout said. “And are they going to move him for stuff they don’t want, or just wait? It’s very hard to find a trade that makes sense for everyone.”
That same scout suggested that Kuminga, who is currently sidelined due to knee soreness, hasn’t done a whole lot so far this season to boost his trade value.
“He is who he is, even though he’s on the younger side,” the scout said. “He has looked better, and has been trying to fit in, but he still falls back into his old habits.”
We have more from around the Pacific Division:
- A pair of Los Angeles Dodgers executives – Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman – are serving as advisors with the Lakers during the transition from the Buss family to new owner Mark Walter, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. As Shelburne explains, Zaidi and Friedman are functioning as senior executives with TWG Sports, the entity Walter created to oversee his sports holdings. Zaidi has been Walter’s representative during the transition process, according to Shelburne, while Friedman has consulted with general manager Rob Pelinka.
- Back with the Suns after signing a one-year, minimum-salary contract over the summer, point guard Collin Gillespie is enjoying his expanded role in Phoenix. Gillespie, one of the team’s top reserves, is averaging 10.5 points and 5.1 assists in 24.3 minutes per game off the bench as he makes a case to stick with the Suns beyond this season. “I would like to be here long-term,” he said (Twitter video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). “It’s 15 games into the season. There’s a ton of time. I’m not even worried about that or focused on that right now. Just play the year out. Hopefully have a really good year. Win a lot of games and then focus on it after the season, but I would like to be here long-term.”
- Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at some of the issues plaguing the 4-11 Clippers, including an inability to keep up with faster-paced offenses, poor point-of-attack defense, losing the rebounding and possession battles, and – in the words of head coach Tyronn Lue – a lack of “point-of-attack offensive guys that can create their own shots.”