After firing Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak and elevating Magic Johnson from “advisor” to President of Basketball Operations, the Lakers are reportedly close to filling their vacant GM position.
Lakers are finalizing a multi-year agreement with agent Rob Pelinka as general manager, league sources tell @TheVertical. He'll start soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 21, 2017
Pelinka, a player agent, famously repped Kobe Bryant for most of his 20 year career and has a long list of current players as clients, including Chris Bosh, James Harden, Trevor Ariza, Eric Gordon, and Andre Iguodala. According to multiple NBA people, he has a fantastic reputation within the agent ranks, good relationships with GM’s and players, and has a good eye for talent.
I’ve dealt w/ Rob Pelinka a lot covering the draft. Very smart. Excellent talent evaluator. His clients love him. Good hire for Lakers.
— NBA Big Board (@chadfordinsider) February 22, 2017
Beyond that, at least one of his current clients think he’ll do well.
Trevor Ariza on Pelinka: "I think he'll be unbelievable in that role. He knows basketball. He has a really, really good eye for talent."
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) February 21, 2017
Those things are nice to hear, of course. What’s also nice is that while a move from the agent ranks to front office is rare, it is not unprecedented. The most famous example is current Warriors GM Bob Myers. Myers was a top associate at Wasserman Media Group and was brought up under Arn Tellem before moving on to the Warriors in 2011 as Assistant GM. He was promoted to GM in 2012.
Pelinka carries a similar pedigree to Meyers and one can only hope he makes a similarly successful transition to the front office as his now Pacific Division Rival.
Beyond anecdotes about his path to this point and similarities to a guy like Myers, though, there’s very little we know about how Pelinka will operate in his new role. We can talk about his experience as a deal maker, in negotiating contracts, in seeking out and recruiting talent. These are needed skill sets for a GM and I am interested in seeing how those skills translate from the agent’s side of the table to the front office’s. I think it’s fair to say a person who has achieved at the level he has should be given the benefit of the doubt, just as I think it’s fair to say he has no experience in the role he’ll be occupying and why that leads to skepticism.
That said, I can say I like this hire. Not just because Pelinka is familiar with the Lakers (besides Kobe, he represented former Lakers Derek Fisher, Ed Davis, and Carlos Boozer), but because he surely has a vast network of already established relationships around the league in both organizations and on the players’ side. The hope, of course, is that he can leverage those relationships into the type of recruiting and deal making to help push the Lakers forward.
I won’t pretend to know that he will actually be able to accomplish these things. I also will not ignore that the Lakers moving on him so quickly speaks to some pretty evident backroom conversations which, on some levels, make me uneasy. Add this to a pretty “closed” process of moving forward with him as the final choice without opening the search to a larger pool of candidates and I can certainly understand reservations about how this has all played out.
Ultimately, though, I can say that I am more than a bit intrigued. While I don’t like how Mitch/Jim were let go, the idea of having a tied in person like Pelinka handling negotiations, a duo of Ryan West and Jesse Buss overseeing scouting and player development, with Magic Johnson being a “front” person who fills the role Dr. Buss had as the final decision maker who brings gravitas to the room is a formula which offers some potential for real success. Of course, it can all go sideways and downhill too.
But that is the risk which comes with the types of changes the Lakers have made. As I have been saying, I’m willing to give this some time to see how it all plays out.
LT Mitchell says
Kupchack is like a friendly pet goldfish just casually swimming around the tank waiting to be fed.
Pelinka reminds me of a hungry great white, who will swim hundreds of miles for the kill once he smell a little blood.
This team needs a shark in the front office.
Mid Wilshire says
In the corporate world, when a company enters a new phase, say, from being entrepreneurial to being larger, more dominant, and more strategic in outlook, that company often needs a new leader. Famously, Bill Gates — an outstanding entrepreneur — stepped aside at the right time. Microsoft took off. And the rest is history.
The Lakers are now at a very different stage from their 2011-12 season. They’re no longer star-driven or a powerhouse. They don’t intimidate and blow other teams away. Instead, they’re re-building. They’re young…in fact, they’re younger than they’ve ever been with their top 6 core players all 24 y.o. and younger (with two of them only 19 years old).
That takes a different kind of leadership. Mitch was a fine GM for the past Lakers. But he was much more hit-and-miss in the last 4 years.
Will Pelinka be the kind of forward-thinking GM that can help the Lakers ascend to the next level? Only time will tell. But Mitch’s leaving was probably the right thing for this team. I think Mitch, who is not incompetent, would be good in a more stable situation, perhaps with a top-8 team trying to make it to the NBA finals.
Let’s just hope that Pelinka’s the answer with this newest version of the Lakers. Only time will tell.
I wish him well.
Vasheed says
The unceremonious dismissal of Mitch and Jim coupled with Magic’s tendency for off cuff remarks makes me worry about a future of drama resonating from the Lakers organization. Mitch was a stabilizing force in that he could do a detailed interview without really saying anything substantive. He tended to also keep a close hand rarely tipping off his moves in advance.
I do think that Magic and Pelinka represent a path to a more friendly face of the franchise. Guys who can more readily connect with free agents. It may work as long as the drama cloud doesn’t overshadow that.
david__h says
darius: good coverage thus far and thanks for keeping us in the laker loop.
what was most telling yesterday was magic’s comment that they got to get better. could be wrong but to me he was referring to the three laker lottery picks. and therein lies a potential problem for coach Walton in that he wants his young core to develop organically (at their own pace) and magic appears to have assessed their development to date and wonders why they’re not better than what they show. It’s who he is and let’s see how that develops.
under advisement to magic, if possible, use the first round’s 27th and possible 3rd picks to lure the 1st pick. Use Ingram, Russell and/or Randle if needed. We need a superstar and should be looking to the future toward your ultimate goal of making the lakers great again.
Go lakers
Lakers Future says
Obviously there is still a lot we do not know. However, I’m willing to take a wait and see approach. I don’t care about the soap opera in the background. I care about the product on the floor. I’m eager to see Pelinka get his shot. I’ve felt for a while that the inter workings of the NBA had passed Mitch by. Being able to judge talent is one thing. Being about to make and close deals is another. On the latter I feel Mitch is behind the times.
The fact Magic didn’t install himself as GM is refreshing. Clearly he realizes the job at hand is bigger than him. I have great respect for the job Mitch Kupchak did over the years. But it was time for a change. And honestly this should have happened last April. But better late than never.
KenOak says
I’m cautiously optimistic at this point. I’ve wanted Jim gone for a while now, but I’ve felt that Mitch hasn’t done a bad job over the years. I’m not certain things can get any worse for the Lakers, so Magic and Pelinka can only go up, right?
Anyway, I’ve been so depressed by the Lakers situation and my NFL team that I haven’t been posting much at all. Hopefully, we’ll all have good things to talk about around here soon!
drrayeye says
If we now have a FO team that works as a team, things should be fine. It’s going to be interesting to see how much influence Luke will have in the new FO team.
Terrets says
I completely disagree with parting ways with Mitch and, in particular, with the timing. Having said that, I think Pelinka is about the best we can realistically get.
Why? Well, I think that the Lakers were going to have a very hard time prying a competent FO guy from a contender or finding a competent GM candidate with hands on experience for the following reasons: 1. Despite all the right things Magic has recently said, I have a feeling (as do many in the NBA) that Magic may try to be a little too hands on in his role as President. That can be a bad thing as most “coveted” FO candidates will want autonomy to perform their day to day tasks. Also, problematic from the point of view of having to teach your boss about the business while you try and go about doing your day to day. 2. Having Joey and Jesse, two of the owners, just two people below you does not do well for long-term job security, nor for autonomy. This is particularly true for Jesse, as he is head of scouting ops. Imagine disagreeing with him on talent evals? 3. The push by Jeannie and the LA media to make the Lakers an immediate contender vs building from the ground up. A competent GM willwant the autonomy (see a pattern here”) to shape the Lakers future versus ‘helping’ shape Jeannie and Magic’s version of future . And so on…
So, that’s a long winded way of saying that I do like the Pelinka hiring. However, I truly hope he has a strong character given the dynamic of working for a Laker legend while having two owners reporting to you. For our collective sake, I hope this is the case.
MT87 says
LT Mitchell How many goldfish have constructed championship-level rosters?
drrayeye says
Terrets I’m thrilled with the long overdue removal of the Jimmy/Mitch part of the Laker FO disarray, but I agree that it’s bad timing, and I agree that Pelinka is an appropriate choice.As to why Mitch/Jimmy should have been terminated much earlier. No coach should ever again be hired in to coach a team
with talent inconsistent with his personal philosophy and no shorter term way to correct the imbalance. Jimmy/Mitch
apparently learned nothing from the hiring experience with D’Antoni.
Did it make sense for Jimmy/Mitch to hire Luke Walton from the Warriors to coach a last
place team with newly chosen free agents Deng and Mosgov and no cap
space?
The key moving forward is to generate a FO consensus vision for the future, privately and publicly. That may have been already accomplished for Jeanie, Magic, and Rob–and even the kids in the organization–but I’m not sure how much Luke has participated. I’d hope that he’d be meeting with Magic and Rob ASAP to begin the communication process.
KevTheBold says
What I find comforting, is the apology Jeanie gave to Laker fans, for this shake-up, not happening earlier; not, as some expected.
Seems to me, she moved to block a potential mistake, or allow another trade deadline to pass with nothing to show for it.
With history backing her up, and the inside track, makes sense to me.
Still R says
Oh, by the way, I guess we now have a better feel for the limits of Jeanie’s authority.
Pbz06 says
I totally disagree and took it the opposite. He’s high on the young guys and wants them playing more so their development is the priority for now. The wins will come as they grow under Luke (who he and Jeanie love) and become more attractive to free agents.
One criticism I have of Luke is that he spreads out minutes too much. All the young guys play 25 minutes per game while other teams’ young guys play over 36 minutes per game.
DAR, Randle, and Clarkson’s numbers look great projected over 36 and we would be talking higher praises about them if they were the focus (instead of Lou, or Deng/Mozgov soaking up shots or minutes).
david__h says
Pbz06 :
I hope your right on that. the young core needs all the encouragement and positive feedback. I would like nothing more than to see growth.
fern16 says
Mitch was no damn goldfish. Are you frakking kidding me?
fern16 says
Im sad to see Mitch go like this but i think he didn’t change with the times to catch up with the modern NBA. It was time for a change, sooner than expected but it was bound to happen. Really dramatic 24 hours.
new rr says
One point about this shake-up: even though the guys calling the shots now are not named “Buss”, Jeanie is keeping this thing in the family. Wanting a President of Basketball Ops, rather than trying to pry an exec away from a winning organization by offering a higher title and big money, Jeanie turned to the Buss family’s long-time friend and confidant Magic Johnson, and handed him a huge title, and a job, frankly, for which he is not very well-qualified.
Wanting a new GM, she did not do a protracted conventional search and ask for permission to interview guys like Troy Weaver and Travis Schlenk. Instead, she quickly closed a deal with Kobe Bryant’s long-time agent, confidant, and business partner, Rob Pelinka.
While there is no way to know, of course, what her father would have done if were still alive and deciding what to do about the shipwrecked Lakers, I do think that these moves were in keeping with the somewhat insular way that the Busses have run the Lakers for 40 years.
Will it work? Like everything else in the NBA, it will be about talent and execution. If Magic and Pelinka have the talent to be good at these gigs, and if they execute by working patiently and collaboratively with Walton, West et al and with an eye towards how the league has changed, it might go well. If they don’t, Magic will probably make a couple of very ill-advised moves to bring in big-name talent that set the Lakers even further adrift.
One other point: many have said over the last few years that having two bland, non-telgenic guys like Jim and Mitch in the top two jobs was bad for business. The Lakers have done a 180* in that regard, as Pelinka is known for being slick and articulate and for kind of resembling Rob Lowe, and Magic of course is a LA icon and one of the most well-known ex-athletes on the planet. We will see if it helps.
new rr says
Still R
Indeed. A few months ago, there were a couple of people here saying that she couldn’t do this, due to the way the trust etc. is structured.
GusNaan says
Who knows how this will turn out but Jeannie pulled the ultimate Michael Corleone power play. I’m hopeful about the future but there is much to do
Vasheed says
new rr Still R
I haven’t seen anything that really described the process. Did she do it on her own or did she need the support of the other Buss owners not including Jim?
Fulofunk says
Thanks for that KTB. My sentiments exactly.
Still R says
Vasheed new rr Still R – True words; we don’t know how the buss machinery works (I don’t anyway); however we now know she was able to get it done.
new rr says
Vasheed new rr Still R
Fair point, but there were a few folks saying that it wouldn’t happen/probably wouldn’t happen, and, obviously, it did. So, even if she needed the support of the other Busses to pull the trigger, she had it.
mattal says
new rr
I share your concern about the Lakers being insular. For years I have been posting on this board under different handles: Leo, Todd, George (I used the names of my business partners just for fun) this has been my biggest complaint about the Lakers: leadership has always been tethered to their past and to what’s known/comfortable to them. That was fine when Dr. Buss was alive, Jerry West was in charge and you had hall of famers on the floor. An argument can be made that team management is going full fetal position
My preference was for Jeanie to make an offer to a Sam Presti or Bob Meyers etc. Now, that kind of move needs to be done in the off season and might require compensation (assets to do so are in short supply). When Magic was on Mason and Ireland he was asked if he was involved in the Lakers Kings discussions regarding Cousins. Magic said no.
My gut says that this was Jim/Mitch’s final mistake. One of the issues that Jeanie regularly mentions is the lack of communication between the FO and her. Magic’s initial description of his new duties, when brought on board, was to improve that line of communication. Now, don’t get me wrong Jim/Mitch made the right call by not trading the kids (we need to keep the ’17 and ’19 picks) but the point being that Jim just didn’t get it — his final ‘F_You’ to Jeanie was his last. So, yea, I think change was inevitable but it was accelerated by indication that Jim/Mitch weren’t willing to play nice in the sand box.
Clay Bertrand says
new rr
The very antithesis of the Laker “search” for FO talent are teams that employ a firm like Korn Ferry to perform across the industry talent combs that generate candidate pools that are vetted, interviewed etc. I recall this happening in the NBA recently. Frankly, I wonder about the effectiveness of outside headhunter consultants to find the right people in such a specialty business as NBA Front Office operations.
I am not in disagreement with the sentiment that Due Diligence would have been the proper course. However, while a wide transparent search leaving no stone unturned would have been ideal, I am not upset with the hire of Pelinka. Of course, I am not one to prejudge but I AM quietly optimistic and believe this could well turn out to be an inspired choice even if its not an outside the organization upstart type of hire.
My belief is that while Schlenk and Weaver DO clearly have strong front office experience, Pelinka brings his own unique strengths to the table and it could be argued that HIS strengths and expertise may outweigh the FO experience of these younger FO guys.
True that Schlenk and Weaver have had years of FO experience in various posts. While Pelinka has had AT LEAST as many years as the tip of the spear transacting deals with Players to rep them AND with Team GMs to get them signed, AND with multiple GMs to get them traded. Through all of this, he has had direct contact and interaction with most likely ALL of the NBA FOs in the league (while Schlenk and Weaver’s interactions have been limited). For example, he is already very familiar with with Bob Myers at GS and Arn Tellem in Detroit knowing each very well from Wasserman.
Agents like Pelinka play a huge role in the construction of many trades in the NBA these days with the increasingly complex CBA needing Capologists and lawyers to assist GMs with transactions. There has been increasing overlap in the roles of Agents and FO guys in player transactions because of the complexity of the CBAs the last 15 years.
I mainly have a gut belief that Pelinka’s experiences and contacts gained throughout his long career as an agent are harder to acquire and perhaps more valuable than knowing the ins and outs of daily operations learned from sitting in an NBA FO as a video coordinator, then an advanced scout and then an assistant GM, etc. Not that this isn’t a proper and organic route to becoming a head of a FO.
Pelinka’s hire is sorta like a big time District Attorney, who spends 20-30 years working FOR the government as a Prosecutor. This person knows ALL the judges, knows all the other Prosecutors, knows their procedures, methods, agendas AND dirty secrets. He knows exactly how the Prosecutors Office operates inside and out.
Then he quits (or “FLIPS” ) and becomes a Defense Attorney. Now he brings to the OTHER SIDE, all of his intimate knowledge and his relationships that he forged as a Prosecutor. Will he have to learn the game from his new Defense side??? Yes of course. But his vast inside knowledge from his previous position is HUGE and its maybe more valuable than knowing the exact protocols of his new position—which can be learned fairly painlessly.
You almost never see a Defense Attorney become a Prosecutor. Just as you never see a FO Executive quit to become an AGENT. The Buss Bros. and Ryan West may not be Schlenk and Weaver, but they DO have everyday FO experience and have scouted very effectively for us. The meshing of what we DO have remaining in the FO with what Pelinka brings could well create the very type of FO that we will need going forward.
A PROGRESSIVE hire of sorts IMO if admittedly appearing insular.
drrayeye says
mattal new rr Very insightful. I think that Jim/Mitch would have been fired whether or not they traded for Cousins because they didn’t seek the counsel of Magic/Jeanie as part of the decision making process. As you put it, it was Jimmy’s final ‘F_You’ This time to both Jeanie and Magic.
I don’t think the final transitions will be over for some time, but right now, Jeanie has taken over the role of her dad, Magic is “Jerry West,” and Rob is “Mitch.” At least for the time being, communication has been restored in the FO–and that’s good news.
new rr says
mattal new rr
The KBros made a nice point on their pod: we have officially entered the Jeanie Buss Era. Jeanie did not handle herself very well on many occasions the last few years, but ultimately:
1. Jerry Buss put Jim in charge of basketball ops.
2. Basketball ops mostly didn’t go well.
3. The basketball ops guys, including Jim, were replaced.
But the Magic/Pelinka team is all on Jeanie–she put them in place, rather than doing a traditional job search, so if this doesn’t work out, it is on her.