Getty Lakers exec Rob Pelinka
The Los Angeles Lakers had the second-best odds to win the championship this season. Their Big Three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook was projected to make some serious noise and lead the Lakers to the promised land.
However, the purple and gold were so bad that they got booed at home games and didn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament.
Westbrook is expected to be traded this summer, but one NBA executive who spoke to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype thinks the Lakers could be headed for major front-office changes if the 2022-23 season doesn’t go smoother.
“Frank (Vogel) was definitely the scapegoat, the exec told Scotto. “One more year for that front office, and if the results don’t drastically improve, they could be in line for some more changes.”
Another executive said, “Vogel was the scapegoat. There’s no question. I don’t think they treated him very well on the way out. I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s very well respected in the coaching community. He’ll be able to pick his spot as a high-level assistant if that’s something he wants to do.”
According to Bill Oram of The Athletic, Rob Pelinka has two years left on the contract extension that accompanied his promotion to vice president of basketball operations last year. Many Lakers fans are upset at him since he traded for Westbrook, let Alex Caruso sign with the Chicago Bulls and didn’t make any trades at the 2022 trade deadline.
Pelinka Took Ownership of Mistakes
To his credit, Pelinka took ownership of constructing a flawed team during his exit interview with reporters. He also said he’s confident the Lakers can turn things around in the offseason.
“The roster decisions ultimately rest on my shoulders,” Pelinka said. “And I will take input from LeBron and Anthony as our two captains. I have done that during my entire tenure. But at the end of the day, I think I’m the one who leads the basketball operations department and will take ultimate accountability for the roster decisions that are made.
“I’m confident that, like we did in 2019 after a year of disappointment, we (will) put our heads together. And I think we’ll spend the next several weeks and months doing an autopsy of what worked well and what didn’t work well this year and come out of that with a clear plan of how to get it right in July.”
James, Davis, Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn, Talen-Horton Tucker, Stanley Johnson, Wenyen Gabriel and Austin Reaves are the only Lakers under contract for next season. Westbrook has a player option worth $47,063,478 that he’s expected to pick up and NBA execs believe Pelinka will have to take on bad contracts to move him.
NBA Execs on Westbrook’s Trade Value
Scotto spoke to three NBA execs to get their thoughts on Westbrook’s trade value. Two said the Lakers will probably have to take on multiple “terrible” contracts to move Westbrook, while the third said he wouldn’t trade for the one-time MVP.
Oram and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported in March that Pelinka still has Lakers owner Jeanie Buss’ full support. Pelinka is close with Buss since he was Kobe Bryant’s agent.
However, if the Lakers have another disastrous season in 2022-23, Buss may have to fire Pelinka and hire a new GM.