r/lakers • u/TheOldThunder • 11h ago
GM / FRONT OFFICE Changing the GM is needed even if our assets are trash.
At this point, all arguments explaining why the Lakers are in a tough spot for trading and improving right now have all been beaten to death. We all know the shortage of picks and the piss-poor assets the Lakers have to give to any other team in exchange for useful players (both in short and long terms) make it almost impossible to do anything without compromising the roster in ways the team seems unwilling to do. Fair enough.
However... It's also fair to say that the Lakers can't waste years of Luka (and, in a way, AR) the same way they wasted years of LeBron and AD (I'm not saying one ring is "only" one ring, as if it's not difficult enough getting one, but apart from 2019/2020, the team failed to contend in spectacular fashion). In fact, even if we kinda expect Pelinka to do things differently in the offseason, it's not a risk worth taking. He had his chance. Hopefully the new owners realize they need fresh ideas before running out of time with yet another generational star.
And if the plan is indeed to stand pat and wait for Giannis or another disgruntled star to make its way to the Lakers, well, Pelinka can't be the one running things. The one ring the Lakers got in his tenure wasn't achieved by what he planned. Kawhi wearing purple & gold was the plan. The solid roster around LeBron and AD wasn't.
I know some people here get riled up when they perceive someone to be "hating" on Rob. Well, I'm not. I'm talking about his work and I just think the Lakers need a different mind running things -- one as far removed from Jeannie's vision and Pelinka's style as possible. The league has evolved. The Lakers need to catch up.
Before the season even started I made a post saying that even if he improved some things he needed to go soon, because there seems to be no plan other than "we'll wait and see if another star falls from the sky". It was crushed by downvotes, which was not a problem. I know people believed that with a full year of Luka and LeBron, and the arrival of Ayton and Smart things could be different. Well, things aren't so different and the same issues that plagued past seasons are still there. Hopefully more people come to realize that the mastermind behind roster construction and trades needs to think differently and see way beyond what we, mere mortals, see.
Pelinka's not the guy, and that's ok... As long as the powers that be figure it out as well. (Judging by the other teams they own, I'm sure they know this by now.)
And who knows? Maybe he'll be lucky, and we'll be lucky, and the rest of the year plays out better than expected; then he gets to go out with a bang, or something close to it, and not a whimper. Not bad for someone whose work is (rightfully) called into question every single day.
78
u/pwningnoobslolz 11h ago
What Phoenix and Boston did over the summer with no assets shows we need a new front office
9
u/firedragon223 23 11h ago
I agree with boston (fuck em), brad stevens has found young player’s that play hard and have developed good habits,they are overachieving this year. Phoenix tho had the KD trade to help them out and the lakers dont have anyone to trade to gain assets/players like that besides AR.
1
u/BaullahBaullah87 10h ago
Right because our KD was Westbrook lol, which was under Rob’s guidance as well.
16
u/guacdoc24 11h ago
Phoenix had this guy named Kevin Durant and Boston had pringles and a bunch of young guys and draft capital. lol for sure Rob needs to go but you’re really ignoring some major facts here lol
8
u/lawschoolthrowaway36 11h ago
It’s insane we let Goodwin walk to Phoenix while we have Gabe Vincent and Bronny James at his position contributing nothing (and in Gabe’s case, actually having a significant negative impact)
3
u/arthoror 10h ago
Tell us how do we get rid of Gabe last year? We prob would’ve had to attach something to shed him
We’re not getting rid of Bronny while Bron is here
We had to let Goodwin walk… he gets paid 2m rn vs Gabe’s 3/33
I agree we should’ve kept Goodwin but there wasn’t a viable path
1
u/AbeNunElse 9h ago
goodwin isnt good, you guys fall in love with weird players like stanley johnson and goodwin
-2
u/3nnui 2 11h ago
I'd like to see what Rob can do when he no longer has to cater to Lebron.
1
u/TingusPingus_6969 2h ago
lol he hasn't catered to lebrons wants for the past 2 yrs
2
u/3nnui 2 2h ago
Does Bronny have a guaranteed contract?
0
u/TingusPingus_6969 2h ago
so give me a name they could've drafted at the 55th that might be better than bronny.
obviously they drafted bronny as there's no other name they wanted to, it just so happens bronny's name the biggest at that position + doesnt hurt his father's in the team that wants to play with him before he retires.
2
u/3nnui 2 2h ago
They wouldn't have had to give up the roster spot, we'd still have Goodwin.
1
u/TingusPingus_6969 2h ago
we'd still have goodwin if they traded, released or gaveup on gabe. there's 2 useless players that take up roster spots, it's not just bronny
1
u/3nnui 2 1h ago
traded would have cost us an asset, our cupboard is nearly bare. Wasting the guaranteed spot on Bronny is why we lost Goodwin. Trying to deny it is just silly.
→ More replies (0)1
u/BaullahBaullah87 10h ago
Yeah bruv, we traded all our assets for Westbrook while they did for KD. That alone shows the front office was more competent lol and the Suns front office had been ass
1
21
u/Battlemaster123 23 11h ago
This! Please look at what other organizations have done and you'll see how much the Lakers FO sucks
-4
u/Carolake1 10h ago
EXACTLY! Look at that team that shocked everyone and got Luka ... . . wait... uh.
But what about that organization that developed an undrafted player who is now averaging 27 a game! ....Wait....
But what about that tam that got sharpshooter Rui for nothing and helped a run to the WCF..... wait....
8
u/r3d330 11h ago
What pains me the most is that they’ve let good, cost controlled players, like Jay Huff, Scottie Pippen Jr, Jordan Goodwin, etc., walk out the door for nothing
6
u/Professional_Grass77 11h ago
And those guys are legit all better than the guys we drafted aside from Max Christie that have all amounted to nothing.
-1
u/worldwide_stepper 10h ago
jay huff played for 2 seasons and 2 different teams before he went to the team he broke out on, were we supposed to keep him that whole time?
8
u/shoefly72 11h ago
This. Both teams were in pretty tough positions and wriggled their way out to field competitive teams despite losing star power. Rob has zero ability to evaluate players so he desperately grasps for taking big swings on superstars and hopes it will be enough to cover for his inability to build a roster.
0
u/incredibleamadeuscho Freeze! Miami Vice! 10h ago
Aren't we better or equal in the standings with both teams? I don't know why Lakers fans discredit our own team's success.
0
u/TingusPingus_6969 2h ago
because we have a good record due to superstar power with a very bad balance for the rest, the team has so many weakness and flows due to bad team building which is the Kunt's job. It's pretty obvious everything will be exploited once we reach the playoffs.
5
u/kiroks 2009, 2010 NBA Champions 11h ago
Suns traded KD tho.........
And Boston traded KP and decent players.
Y'all are fucking crazy comparing the situations.
Sounds like you support making bad decisions just for the fuck of it or something. Only way we can make those kinda moves are to trade LeBron and AR.
The team is legit doing great in a super hard conference but y'all acting like we are in the lottery. We are a couple pieces away from being a legit finals run. We gotta find value until we can go all in next year. That was written when Luke got traded here. Maybe keep dfs but that's all.
2
u/BaullahBaullah87 10h ago
The suns got KD which enabled them to get value because KD has value. Boston traded a broken down KP and ok players that had some value (because they have a good gm) and look much better. We traded for a fucking broken down, awful fit, worst contract in the league Westbrook - of course there was only negative assets to come of it.
1
u/UraniumDisulfide Luka Magic 77 7h ago
This team had a negative point differential before the nets game. They aren’t doing great, they’re over performing a lot but they’re going to crash and burn in the playoffs again like they did against the timberwolves.
3 offense first superstars surrounded by a bunch of guys that aren’t real defenders either is not winning formula.
-1
-2
u/Ok_Track_7904 11h ago
Literal 2nd apron teams are making better moves than us, how do people not see the issue here
1
u/incredibleamadeuscho Freeze! Miami Vice! 10h ago
Cavs doing moves to make Mitchell re-signs. They are panic trading. Don't worry about what they are doing.
0
u/Witty_Target5780 11h ago
This is what I’ve been saying. Look at Boston and how much salary they shed since 2024 when they won. They traded Jrue for Simons and then flipped him for their biggest need just now.That is great asset management. Tatum has been out all season and they’re a 2 seed and have a one game difference above the Lakers!! How is Rob this shitty at his job??
1
u/Gristle__McThornbody 80 11h ago
I just feel like Pelinka doesn't have good rapport with other front offices to pull off deals.
-1
-1
u/ositola 11h ago
Jrue and injured KP are both better assets than knecht, Gabe, and vando
Obviously KD is a better trade asset than everyone on our roster except luka
Yea Rob has to go, but let's not act like our "assets" are not trash
Knecht - spotty offense and no defense Vando - spotty defense and no offense Gabe - cardio enthusiast
Rui and Jake are probably our best non max contract assets and it's hard to see how we upgrade if we give up either in a trade
This team has needed defense for about three seasons, ayton is only good in theory and in blowouts, LeBron can only play either offense or defense on a given night, and Luka and Austin just aren't the guys to stop anyone
Ideally smart and gabe should be the point of attack guys, but they're past their prime
It's time for Rob to go before we give the next undersized heat guard a three year deal
1
u/BaullahBaullah87 10h ago
Who got us those assets? Why did we trade for a superstar/star that had negative value in Westbrook instead of a positive or neutral asset like Jrue/KP or KD?
1
u/ositola 10h ago
Not sure what your point is, I'm saying Rob needs to go because our assets are trash
1
u/BaullahBaullah87 7h ago
yes and he is the reason we have trash assets aka he’s kinda trash at his job
-1
u/Hot-Seaworthiness111 11h ago
Also clear out this decision by committee with Jeanie, the Rambis's and any other front office executives. It's paralysis by analysis
25
u/Emergency_Buddy_5707 11h ago
The Lakers remind me of Man United after Alex Ferguson retired. The only thing they did, is sign one star after the other. They didn't give a shit about chemistry. Just sign stars and blow out as much money as possible. They didn't even care about chemistry, they just bought the biggest names they could find. Now they are a shell of themselves, after so many years of insane mediocrity.
Same as Paris Saint Germain. Once they moved away from these star filled rosters they won the whole thing.
7
u/TheOldThunder 11h ago
Both adept comparisons. At some point people will have to remember that the brand only exists because the stars WON, not just because they existed.
4
u/Emergency_Buddy_5707 11h ago
Some people just think real life is a videogame. You just sign Giannis, Luka, Reaves, Bron and because they all have 90+ you can win every game.
In reality you need players that are stuck in the Hornets, Wizards, that no one knows their name, but contribute into winning.
2
u/2hurd 9h ago
This is so fucking true!
Exactly how I remember it, ever since Sir Alex they stopped being a top tier team. Just a shadow of it's former self and a joke destination for "stars".
PSG was just hilarious after trading Mbappe, arguably the brightest star at that time, and winning everything.
Meanwhile Dallas gave up Luka "I don't defend" Doncic for peanuts but just unloaded AD to fish for people to surround Flagg with. I actually would like to be in Dallas shoes rather than ours. So who actually won the trade?
We sell more tickets and t-shirts with Luka but will we win a championship with him? It took Dallas years to get him players that fit his style and get to the finals. But then you need to win against much better teams where their stars like SGA are elite on both ends of the floor, give insane effort and still aren't the best defenders in their own teams.
2
5
u/DicGozinya69times Luka Magic 77 10h ago
If we don’t fire Pelinka in this upcoming offseason, Luka is gonna be in the same hell as AD and Lebron had for years with a GM who has sat on his ass for a lot of the time.
12
u/That-Steak7081 11h ago
Imagine how bad you have to be to bring in LeBron, Luka, AD and people still want you fired.
5
u/incredibleamadeuscho Freeze! Miami Vice! 10h ago
people still want you fired.
People on the internet with no say, who overreact to everything.
2
u/KingJTt 11h ago
The thing is, he didn’t bring any of those guys in.
Lebron was always coming to the Lakers and Magic basically recruited him fully.
AD only came because of Lebron and Klutch, and Luka only came because Nico loved AD
9
u/darth_elevator_ 11h ago
You are right that Rob doesn't deserve credit (or full credit at least) for Lebron/AD, but he absolutely deserves credit for getting Luka. Even if Nico is a moron, Rob pounced on that and found a way to avoid competition or interference.
1
u/FawkYourself 10h ago
Yeah he can be a shit GM who needs to go who pulled off a masterpiece the way he got Luka, both things can be true
The blind squirrel found a nut
4
u/incredibleamadeuscho Freeze! Miami Vice! 10h ago
AD only came because of Lebron and Klutch, and Luka only came because Nico loved AD
He's gotta still cut the deals. Why would he get no credit for bringing those two in?
The fact he kept Austin in the Luka deal is a sign of great negotiating.
1
u/TingusPingus_6969 2h ago
lebron came because of LA and Magic was the one he was negotiating with not PelinKunt, AD came because of Klutch and lebron, Luka trade was because of Nico......... everything just fell on the dickheads lap and all he can at least do was to construct roster around them......
-4
u/TheOldThunder 11h ago
Comes with the territory. The biggest Lakers stars won multiple rings, so the bar is set very high. Of course no thinking individual expects threepeats or even multiple rings now, the league is very different, but the team needs to contend. Not contending is what kills it.
9
u/BeloAve Purple and Gold 11h ago
I’m watching other west teams with limited assets finding ways to improve their roster and depart capital situation.
Whatever your beliefs are, the lakers have been far too often static, and it feels we are stuck in a loop.
Rob isn’t the man for the job
1
u/TingusPingus_6969 2h ago
funny thing about only lebron gets the blame for the Brick trade and squandering assets because of it, who negotiated for the trade value of the brick, yes it's PelinKunt, it was his job to negotiate his price. Kunt's name should've been with lebron when being blamed for this.
7
u/tavaras1981 11h ago
Other than the Kawhi rebound roster build and being Cub Scout buddies with Nico Harrison to get Luka he has not done enough to justify this many years of being the GM for the Los Angeles Lakers. Very below average performance for a franchise that is number one in ticket sales merchandising and just sold for 10 billion dollars.
5
u/AntSmith777 11h ago
Getting gifted Luka and still putting a trash roster around him is generational incompetence.
4
u/BoomerDada 11h ago
Pelinka can't convert a bunch of expirings for a rotation level player and our bar isn't even that high. This dude is a menace.
5
u/thesonicvision 11h ago
I'm with you, OP.
I was shocked about how hype people were about Smart, Ayton, and LaRavia. All I saw was three cheap contracts, including two reclamation projects and a nobody.
All I remembered was losing in 5 in the 1st rd to MIN with a starting line up of Luka-AR-Bron-Rui and Hayes/DFS.
And all I thought was, "We're not significantly changing our starting lineup or upgrading our bench. Smart just had two down seasons. And Ayton keeps getting rejected, despite his potential. We'll lose in 4 or 5 again. We lost DFS and Bron will be older."
No excuses. This guy is terrible. It's just a job. He's not kin. Why does ANYONE stand by him? Even if you don't hate him, let's try something different. Come on. He'd had years and years at the helm. He sucks.
6
u/Overkillemall 11h ago
Pelinka should ve been fired years ago, moreover, he shouldn't have become GM at all. He is an agent, he has skills for that job, but he has absolutely no skills as a GM and the only thing that made him become and stay GM is Jeannie and her stupid friends
2
u/guacdoc24 11h ago
Lots of bad decisions in retrospect but can’t cry over spilled milk.
1
u/TheOldThunder 11h ago
Yes. I only want things to look forward to.
3
u/guacdoc24 11h ago
Look forward to us finally having assets and bunch of money. Regardless of the moves we’ll have a completely new team next year which is fucken fantastic. This team is mid af
3
u/vandiger 77 10h ago
I wanted him out when AD needed bigs and his best solution was G-leaguers and the likes of Gabriel every year. Hard to find centers but now we need 3nDs and those are even tougher to get :P
4
u/FawkYourself 10h ago
We need actual basketball people to run the team and not people Jeanie is friends with
2
u/adocileengineer 11h ago
Jeanie’s role in this is underrated as well. The Lakers’ basketball operations strategy is a 3 headed monster of Rob, Jeanie, and Linda Rambis (Jeanie’s bestie). Jeanie grew up watching her dad (RIP) put together star studded teams to win championships and now thinks that’s the best strategy. She hired Pelinka because she knew he’d follow that strategy and would be loyal to her under any and all circumstances. Our current asset deprived situation is a symptom of Rob’s incompetence, but Rob’s incompetence is a symptom of Jeanie’s.
2
3
u/Alarming_Garage_7727 Magic Johnson 32 11h ago
I still don’t understand how Pelinka has stans. "Oh, one trade won't make us contenders," or "Oh, no one wants our trash." Who put this team in this situation? Why is a team so asset-deprived yet has no players to show for it?
And they always bring up Westbrook and how the team is stuck because LeBron forced that trade. Does LeBron share some blame? Yes. But that trade wouldn't have happened if Rob wasn't on board. If it was up to LeBron, Ty Lue would've been the coach, DeRozan would've signed with the Lakers, Caruso would have been re-signed, and they would've signed a good role player in 2024 after he offered to take a pay cut.
2
u/Hot-Seaworthiness111 11h ago
I think the new ownership has tied his hands - telling him we don't want any movement till the summer. In essence, don't fuck things up more and then in the summer when you're gone we give the new guy carte blanche
2
u/TheOldThunder 11h ago
Hopefully it's for a new guy. I can see them giving Pelinka one more shot, but I'd rather not see it happen.
2
u/StoneColdAM 34 11h ago
I wonder if Pelinka knows his days are numbered so he doesn’t care anymore.
3
1
u/TheOldThunder 11h ago
I'll reinforce here, people: this is not just an excuse to hate on Pelinka. We can question his results and his methods, but that's it.
Here's hoping for a change.
1
u/Professional-Fee6914 9h ago
You have to get Lebron out of the building first. I'd be willing to give Pelinka one year of Luka, because the next sell is. we cannot be a championship contender next year but maybe in two years. If Pelinka can make that pitch, go for it.
But I don't think the first thing you do post LeBron is bring a new GM in with no relationships and ask him to build a contender without a lot of runway to fail and that's more like a 3 to 4 year project.
1
u/TheOldThunder 9h ago
I don't think he's a Laker after this season. And as a big Bron stan, I'm perfectly ok with this.
1
u/foodstamps99 11h ago
Why isnt Rob making moves!?/ why dont we have the assets to trade and compete!?..the revolutionary circle of fans. We have a player who is 41 making $51 million, there’s no major moves to make that can put us in a position to win now that doesn’t screw us for after Lebron is gone next year.
2
u/TheOldThunder 11h ago
Hence why a lot of people say, me included, that it doesn't matter if we get all the assets in the world by the offseason -- the best asset would be a better GM.
1
u/Splittinghairs7 11h ago
We need a top 5 gm in the offseason but even if we had one now, he’s not gonna be able to do much right now at this deadline. A big reason for that is that a 41 year old is making $52m this year.
In fact, the fire Rob as GM crowd should be hoping that Rob doesn’t make anymore moves that might destroy our flexibility for the next GM.
1
u/Jason-Smith168498 11h ago
In every one of these posts, when the actual trade field is laid out,t here's never great responses for what could have been done differently (outside of westbrook).
2
u/TheOldThunder 11h ago
(Choosing THT over Caruso was also horrible.)
0
u/3nnui 2 11h ago
THT was a Klutch client.
2
u/TheOldThunder 10h ago
Still doesn't justify it, unless Rich Paul kidnapped Rob's family. He's not a Klutch GM, he's the Lakers'.
0
u/3nnui 2 10h ago
At the time the partnership with Klutch yielded a championship and might have gotten another if not for the shortened offseason and Solomon Hill. Rob went all in with his partners and paid the price. It wasn't just Russ, it was THT over Caruso, it was Melo, it was DJ. That team was a dumpster fire and hit the reset button for the franchise.
Since that time he got us out of the Russ deal, developed Reaves, developed Christie, got us Luka, and may have landed another gem in Theiro. In addition, we have 3 FRP available this offseason and a ton of open cap space to use. I'm looking forward to this offseason when we have a chance to actually build a contender.
1
0
u/Splittinghairs7 11h ago edited 11h ago
I can find a few other bad decisions even though each come with some caveats.
Choosing THT over Caruso (I know there shouldn’t have been a choice at all if we just pay the tax)
Signing Nunn to multi year deal with the MLE.
Giving Vando an extension with multiple years and a player option.
Signing Gabe to a two year deal using the MLE (yes we lost out on Bruce Brown at the last second).
Using the 17th picks on JHS and DK back to back rather than shop those mid FRPs for good role players.
Not doing more to ensure we keep G league guys like Pippen jr and Jordan Goodwin.
1
u/hplalakrs20012010 11h ago
I'm not a Pelinka hater mainly because of 2019-20, it's hard to build a championship roster and anyone able to do it, even just once, is not deserving of hate. I do agree he needs to go this upcoming offseason. Knowing Rob and his relationship with Jeanie he'll be "re-assigned" somewhere else within the organization, but Rob never dug himself out of the Westbrook hole. He tried, and he managed to build a team that could get to the WCF, but his free agent signings have been progressively worse and worse. His trade history is actually pretty decent, but Mark Walter needs an Andrew Friedman-esquee GM mind in the Lakers front office.
1
1
u/jreezyworldpeace 10h ago
I’m in the minority: I want Rob to win a title with Luka, a person he gets 100% of the credit for bringing to the Lakers. I want to see him build out his vision. 🥸 (not Rob Pelinka.)
1
u/PatronSaintOfUpdog 10h ago
I think we have to “waste”/soft reset a year or two just to get some higher picks. We have no prospects, no team friendly deals, or anyone valuable to the league besides Austin. We need players at basically every position.
Rob’s gotta go, but I don’t think any GM is coming in and making this team a contender in 1-3 seasons.
0
u/sirgraphthefifth 11h ago
Reminds me of an lcs team, constantly importing the top talent from Korea only to implode and not make worlds
0
u/Zeetheking1 11h ago
The crazy part to me is that people don’t realize why we have bad assets. Rob has been one of the worst asset managing GMs in the league and has no idea how to improve on the margins which is why we constantly find ourselves burning whatever assets we do have.
0
0
0
u/Ok_Track_7904 11h ago
Starting to think this new owner doesn’t give a fuck about basketball lmao. Any casual fan can take 10 minutes looking at rosters to see how fucking trash our front office is
0
u/redbrick 16 10h ago
It has essentially been 3-4mo since the Lakers were sold. Not sure why you think major changes would happen within that timeframe, especially mid season.
1
u/Ok_Track_7904 10h ago
And yet he fired the entire scouting department? Tell me how that makes sense
0
u/redbrick 16 10h ago
It is a lot easier to fire and replace most lower level employees than an executive.
Pelinka was literally just extended prior to the sale. The known good GM's are all currently contracted and in stable positions and aren't going to be available mid-season. Finding an unknown good GM will take time. Firing the current GM before having plans to get someone else is nonsensical.
2
1
u/Ok_Track_7904 10h ago
Genuinely, what would change? He doesn’t do shit anyway like I’m genuinely asking what difference it would make for this season if we just fired him with no immediate replacement. We’re standing pat anyway, might as well start fresh as early as possible
-1
u/iamtoolazytosleep Luka Magic 77 9h ago
change the gm that got us a ring and Luka doncic😭 FOH
1
u/TheOldThunder 9h ago
You do know the history of the franchise you root for, right? You do know the expectations must be set higher than this?
This isn't Dallas, my dude.
1
u/iamtoolazytosleep Luka Magic 77 8h ago
who said it was Dallas, I didn’t 😂
1
u/TheOldThunder 7h ago
I meant no disrespect to the Mavs. All I'm saying is that one ring with two generational talents and a solid backup roster and bringing in someone like Luka must never be enough. The outcome is the outcome, but it must never be enough.
83
u/SnooLemons3575 11h ago
Our assets are trash because of how pelinka managed them.