Rob Pelinka, much loved for his role in bringing LeBron James into the Los Angeles Lakers, is currently receiving some ire from the fans. In 2017, when Pelinka took over as the General Manager of the franchise, it was under transition and needed trades with long-term vision. His tenure heralded James’ arrival in 2018, adding another chapter in the star’s legacy as well as that of the Lakers.
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Pelinka was much lauded for his decision to bring in Lebron and Anthony Davis in 2019, forging the 2020 Championship-winning Lakers side that ended a 10-year title drought. However, the franchise has been in a downward spiral since then. Some of the trades made by the 54-year-old have not paid dividends like they did with the 2019-20 roster.
In the hot seat currently, the question is whether Pelinka will be able to turn around the fortunes of the Lakers who have endured four underwhelming seasons in a row. He has once lifted the Lakers out of their darkest hours (that started during the tail-end of Kobe Bryant’s tenure), bringing them back to relevance with the historic LBJ trade. It’s about time he orchestrated a repeat.
After finishing in lottery places from 2013-14 to the 2018-19 season, the Lakers had accumulated young talents like D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart through draft picks.
The Pelinka-led Lakers front office used Ingram, Hart, and Ball to acquire Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans in July of 2019. Davis was the ideal running mate for LeBron during the Lakers’ 2020 championship run. He has also been the Lakers’ defensive (and offensive as well) cornerstone since then.
Under Pelinka’s leadership, the Lakers added 3-and-D talents like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JR Smith, Avery Bradley, and Danny Green, who were key role players in the Championship run. The Front Office also signed Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee to bring in some much-needed rim protection and rebounding.
This veteran Lakers squad started the 2019-20 season with a 52-19 record and was at the top of the league before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a hiatus. Their experience and chemistry helped the Lakers thrive in a grueling Orlando Bubble postseason tournament and come out as victors.
The Pelinka-led front office did a terrific job of extracting the best out of the Lakers’ painful rebuild, which was key to their first championship in a decade.
However, after this championship run, the Lakers’ core was broken up. The team has struggled to become an elite squad in the league since then.
It has also brought some question marks on Pelinka’s abilities after the failure of his experiments with the squad. During the offseason, the Lakers’ inactivity has often been questioned by critics.
Rob Pelinka has been criticized for not adding depth to the squad
Before the 2021-22 season, the Lakers traded veteran talent Kentavious-Caldwell Pope to acquire Russell Westbrook. It has been one of the most criticized decisions in Pelinka’s tenure and the move left a huge dent in the team’s SG position since then.
Westbrook’s tenure with the Lakers didn’t go well at well and the team couldn’t even make the playoffs during his first season with the franchise. The Lakers had also brought in Carmelo Anthony in 2021 to create a team of big name veterans.
But that turned out to be a disaster as the veterans failed to keep up with the young talent in the league. The Lakers finished 11th in the West with a pitiful 33-49 record despite having future Hall-of-Famers like Melo, Westbrook, and Rajon Rondo on the squad to go with LeBron and AD.
Therefore, the Pelinka-led Front Office parted ways with Westbrook in a midseason trade in 2023, which brought back Lakers’ 2015 #2 pick D’Angelo Russell.
D’Lo has been the leading scoring guard for the Lakers since then, but with limited impact. His versatile shooting skills play a vital role in the offense but he has been a disappearing act in multiple crucial playoff games.
This lack of ability to deliver at the highest stage has been viewed skeptically by many Lakers fans. It’s debatable whether Russell can be the starting guard of a Championship team. Apart from that, he often doesn’t provide the required cover as a perimeter defender, which has left the Lakers’ defense in a lurch for the past two seasons.
Therefore, his name has featured in various trade rumors. Last season, there was a belief that the Lakers could ship away Russell to bring in the then-Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray. However, the Pelinka-led FO decided to stick with the veteran guard for yet another season because of his shooting abilities.
After the team’s early postseason exit this year, many believe that Pelinka has been patient with D’Lo for too long and until he finds a more defensive-oriented two-way guard, the Lakers will remain vulnerable at that position.
But the Lakers GM has believed in continuity since mid 2022. He has trusted Rui Hachimura and Russell as long-term pieces despite their inconsistencies on both ends.
The Lakers have not made major roster moves since a long time and has sought talent via the draft route, as in the case of sharpshooter Dalton Knecht. They have also done a terrific job of nurturing an undrafted talent like Austin Reaves, who is blossoming into an effective two-way player.
But this approach has not been an efficient approach for a historically ‘Championship or Bust’ franchise like the Lakers. The team has been unable to keep up with the evolving landscape of the stacked Western Conference. The LA side has failed to appear as a top contender in the West as LBJ squeezes the best out of himself in his last years in the league.
Therefore, fans have not been happy with Pelinka’s reluctance toward making common sense trades and bringing in top talent from other teams.
However, the Pelinka-led Lakers Front Office have been lauded because of their treatment of LeBron James. They have made James feel like a stakeholder in the fortunes of the franchise. They won his trust by drafting his son Bronny James as the #55 pick during the 2024 Draft. The Pelinka-led FO has made it clear, the Lakers are LeBron James’ team.
In turn, LBJ has stuck with the Lakers since 2018 and will probably retire as a Laker.
But the question is, can this laid back approach make the Lakers competitive again? Bronny and LBJ playing together as the first father-son duo in NBA history will be a historic event. But that won’t make the Lakers a title contender.
So this begs the question, what is Pelinka’s plan moving forward? His stint won’t be remembered as a successful one in a franchise like the Lakers if the highlight of it is a singular title. He has to deliver better results and deliver them soon. But that seems unlikely with the way the Lakers have been approaching things in recent times.
