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It’s not much of a surprise but the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to a poor start to the season. The team went from NBA champions to one of the worst teams in the league in a span of two years. Much of that is due to the job that vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has done.
Much of the criticism surrounding the Lakers has involved Russell Westbrook and his play since joining the team. However, he didn’t force Pelinka to trade for him. It’s also not the guard’s fault that the roster as a whole doesn’t work. Lakers ownership doesn’t appear to believe that Pelinka is at fault for the team’s struggles and gave him a contract extension in the offseason. Though team governor Jeanie Buss has been lenient and patient in the past, Pelinka could be running out of places to hide if Los Angeles has another disaster of a season.
Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney spoke to a Western Conference executive who believes that Pelinka is likely safe for this season but his leash might not be as long as his new contract would indicate.
“The Busses have been pretty lenient over the years with their front-office people and I’d expect that is not going to change with Pelinka there,” the executive said. “He is good at tiptoeing around things and making sure his bases are covered and basically surviving. He outlasted Magic Johnson so that tells you something about how good he is at self-preservation. But none of us have that much job security, and that team is a mess for the third straight year. The first year, it was injuries. But last year and this year, it is not injuries, it is that the roster is completely dysfunctional. That is going to land on his desk one of these days. It is his roster. If they go through this year and win 35 games again, especially if everyone is healthy, then he is probably going to be in trouble.”
Pelinka Has Limited Options
Pelinka has somewhat backed himself into a corner heading into the season. The Lakers likely could’ve traded Westbrook to the Indiana Pacers for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner a while ago if the team was willing to include their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. If Pelinka eventually caves and makes the trade, that will be a really bad look.
If the Lakers are terrible before the trade deadline and do nothing, fans will not be pleased Pelinika has some security right now with his new contract but possible pressure from fans and LeBron James could force Buss to consider making a drastic move.
Lakers Disaster Scenario Revealed by Insider
The Lakers finally got a win recently after having Westbrook come off the bench. Perhaps that’s the secret formula for the team to start winning more games. The sample size is too small to know for sure. The Athletic’s Jovan Buha revealed that there is a scenario where the Lakers start so bad that they essentially just punt on the season.
“I think the disaster scenario where the Lakers go 5-20 at the 25-game mark — that is maybe a scenario from my understanding that they would potentially pull the plug on it and just be like, ‘OK, we’re gonna stand pat and this roster is what it is. This is kind of like a lost season, and there’s really no point in going for it when we’re this far behind.’ So that’s, I think, the one scenario in which they wouldn’t continue to pursue this, but my understanding is they are going to continue to pursue this,” Buha said.
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