Rob Pelinka will remain as Lakers president, but he’s out of excuses
It’s been almost five years and you can still trace much of what went wrong for the Los Angeles Lakers back to the Russell Westbrook trade. It was the last time they truly went all-in on the LeBron James-Anthony Davis core, and when the deal fell through, there was no shortage of reporting on the role their two superstars played in making the trade happen. Since then, there has been a perpetual feeling of kicking the can down the road.
When they failed to win immediately before the 2022 deadline, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said “you can’t force another team” to make a trade. At media day in September, when asked about the team’s two remaining tradeable first-round picks, he preached caution, saying “you only have one chance to make a trade with multiple picks.” They ended up dealing out a pick in 2023, but otherwise kept the powder dry for the following years, with Pelinka insisting that “if the right deal comes along and we have to deal draft picks, we will” in 2024 before reminding fans of the challenges of existing in “Apron World.”
They finally dealt another pick when Luka Dončić was presented to them on a silver platter. They turned to Mark Williams a few days later, but canceled the deal for medical reasons. He had a great year in Phoenix, and after the Lakers were eliminated in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Pelinka likened rebuilding around Dončić during the season to “trying to build a plane in the sky.” The 2025 offseason should have been a starting point. Yet the Lakers haven’t acquired any players who could be long-term starters around Dončić. They only made a minor move at the 2026 deadline, turning a second-round pick into Luke Kennard. Pelinka argued that being picky was actually a form of aggression. “I would say that we have been aggressive. And a form of aggressiveness is saying no to measures that come to you and that might not be the best for the future in the short and long term,” he argued.
Patience is probably the safest course in theory. In practice, it will be difficult to endure another avoidable exit in the first round. Since the Westbrook trade, there has been a palpable feeling that the Lakers haven’t gotten the most out of their star cores, whether it’s the James-Davis version of the team or the nascent Dončić-Austin Reaves core they have now. In a league filled with creative and unexpected blockbusters, the Lakers are making excuses for why they haven’t been able to maximize the stars they’ve had. The other teams want too much. Aprons are too restrictive. The coach is the problem. That’s why Pelinka hired four of them.
Even if there is some truth to it, it rings rather hollow in light of the mistakes the Lakers continue to make on the sidelines. Keeping picks doesn’t seem as prudent when you waste them on Jalen Hood-Schifino and Dalton Knecht. The second apron didn’t even exist when they let Alex Caruso leave for less than the full mid-level exception. The endless pipeline of disappointing former lottery picks from their original teams in Los Angeles has led to far more failures than successes. While they prioritize these bigger names, they continue to let successful fringe finds like Scotty Pippen Jr., Jay Huff and Jordan Goodwin slip through their fingers.
Excuses are a little more acceptable when a front office has earned trust. Laker fans, rightly so, have lost most of their faith in the Pelinka-led team the Lakers have relied on for nearly a decade. So when Dodgers owner Mark Walter purchased the team and reports of changes in the front office followed, many of those fans were eager to have a new head basketball director.
But according to new general manager Lon Rosen, who spoke with reporters Tuesday, that’s not the case. Pelinka will remain in his role as head of basketball operations for the Lakers with input from top Dodgers executives Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi and a likely strengthened front office under him. The Lakers fired most of their recruiting staff earlier this season and were known around the league for having a very small front office and support staff owned by the Buss family. The idea for now seems to be to strengthen the team’s infrastructure, but without making any changes at the top.
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Whether or not this decision turns out to be the right one will play out over time, but what is clear at this point is that the time for excuses should be long gone. Pelinka has every upside imaginable heading into the 2026 offseason.
His roster, aside from the Dončić-Reaves star duo, is basically a blank slate. There are a few scattered contracts (like the unfortunate extension Pelinka gave to Jarred Vanderbilt or the player option he gave to Deandre Ayton), but the Lakers should have about $47 million or so in cap space if they want it. You can’t force other teams to trade with you? You now have three tradeable choices. The failed draft, with the arrival of a new reconnaissance team, cannot continue. The aprons may constrain every team, but if the way the Dodgers spend is any indication, the luxury tax will no longer be an issue. Letting players like Caruso walk for nothing should no longer be a problem. Dončić will enter his third season as a Laker. The plane is safely on the ground. It’s time to refuel so it can take off.
Even some of the more nebulous concerns begin to fade. The Lakers were at one point so closely tied to Klutch Sports that its CEO, Rich Paul, referred to the team as “us.” James and Davis, the two stars who reportedly pushed for Westbrook’s buyout, are clients of Paul. But Davis is gone. James is set to become a free agent this offseason, and if he leaves, it’s hard to imagine they’ll keep his son, Bronny, who hasn’t shown much in two seasons. The only two clients of Paul remaining on the roster would now be Vanderbilt and Adou Thiero, two reserves. Dončić was reportedly much more patient with the Lakers than James typically was, and he even signed Marcus Smart in free agency. There’s seemingly less concern here about agent or player overreach. The front office, at least for now, needs to do its job.
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Not every team would have been as lenient on Pelinka in recent years as the Lakers. General managers have been fired for far less than the Westbrook debacle. Many owners would have had enough of the excuses. Pelinka managed to survive the turbulent end of the James-Davis era and finds himself at the start of a new era with just about every advancement a leader could ask for. The Lakers have an MVP candidate. They have a secondary star. They have draft picks and cap space. They have the Los Angeles market to recruit, owners with a track record in another sport and a desire to spend, and a franchise player who seems eager to collaborate.
It’s time to put up or shut up. No more excuses. No more kicking the can down the road. Pelinka remains in his post for the moment. If he wants to prove that he deserves to stay there, he must take advantage of this opportunity and get the Lakers into the championship as quickly as possible.
