Rob Pelinka Discussion: President Of BBall Ops + GM

Since when have any of the Lakers beat writers and podcasters been insiders in terms of player personnel decisions? Have any of them ever been the first to break a big trade or signing? This isn't meant as a slight. I listen to the TLN pod and I'm a big fan of Trevor, but he doesn't have that type of access. They're just reporting what they are hearing, but there's a lot of speculation out there with little evidence to show for it. The FO is a small, tight-knit group that never leaks what they're actually doing.

Let's use the idea that we were going to use most of the MLE on Lopez. Who reported that? We had Jake Fischer, Irwin went on his pod to say it's what he's hearing, then other say it's what they're hearing. Is it possible they're all just hearing the same things from each other? I get the frustration, as I noted in the Laravia thread, I was worried about the signing if it meant we don't have enough for Ayton. Otherwise, it's perfectly fine.

What realistic targets have we missed out on that are worth committing 3 or more years to? Capela? The simple, less click bait answer is the most likely: there's nobody in our range that was worth giving more than 2 years to without an overpay. For example, I'd rather give Lopez $10M for 1 year than Kornet the same salary for 4 years. That being said, if they don't land Ayton then the only viable option at center would have to be a trade where we lose multiple assets. If that happens, then hand me a pitchfork!

 

Yeah, this is podcasters silly season. They all want to build views and clicks, it's their job, I get it. And that means pretending they have connections and create discourse so they build their engagement, regardless of if it is true or not. It happens every year. Because if they were lying, everyone just moves on so they have nothing to lose.
Trevor, Irwin, Jovan, Kam Brothers, etc none of them have connections to the FO. Kam Brothers are cool because they don't play the reporting game, they just comment on the rumours like a fan, and that's the content I want.

 

No posts here today?

 

How bout this?

 

AD was only traded this year

 

Well, dangit all!!! Nothing done by this FO is good enough for me!!! And I am really really REALLY IMPORTANT!!!!



Of course, I know NOBODY!! But still the Lakers should do everything I say!! Quickly!!!!

Because ......



Or I could just relax and give the Lakers the time they need to make the right decision, and if they don't we always have Mark Walter to figure things out and we don't hate him yet!!!

 

bro he got lucky...again

He didn't get Ayton cuz he's a savvy GM...he got Ayton because he shares an agent with Luka.

He nearly fumbled this one away too by giving LaRavia part of the MLE (unnecessary), so again, he got lucky because of his own star player sharing an agent with Ayton

I'm waiting to see what he does with the rest of the roster when he's not being spoon-fed.

 

So here we go again of course with the luck thing. This whole Ayton buyout was engineered it is pretty obvious. He knew he had him. Just because so many fans freaked here and everywhere else thinking he almost fumbled it does NOT mean that is so! Deandre got 1M less than what he gave up in the buyout. That was planned because the Lakers wanted LaRavia and knew the Kings could only offer him 5M and I think 1 year. Go back and read carefully what the Memphis fans posted to the Kings fans about him I put up on his 3rd page and see the 5th from the last comment that was made that they probably would lose him after the season because of that. AR’s agent and AR were in on this too with the video receipts. So Jake whom we’re going to love as a player and is NOT a scrub, quite the opposite got 1M more than Kings could offer and 2 years, leaving the 9M for Ayton making him virtually whole, having given up 10M on his buyout. Totally a chess playing move landing BOTH. and being still in position with Rob’s CAP figuring (who knew right?) … to even still now have the 5M BAE to use.

Furthermore I actually read Vash on LG scratching his head trying to figure out what Houston was doing with who all they brought in and did NOT have quite enough money for all of it …. and even wondered if somehow somebody or some money was coming back the Lakers way somehow tied to their DFS deal. Vash himself, NO fan of Rob, wondered if “something else” was going on between Houston and LA. That was yesterday. And look what just popped up on the FA/player movement news late this afternoon after the Ayton dust had settled ….. there is some mother-of all-moving-parts deals reportedly with 7 teams involved it turns out in the Kevin Durant deal to them still shaking out, with the Lakers being one of the teams involved. Pelinka looks to me from what I read Vash say yesterday in his Houston puzzlement, and what is turning out NOW to being reported about 7 teams actually involved in the KD trade …. quite possibly HAS been playing “chess” in free agency while impatient fans immediately started freaking out a couple hours after the LaRavia first opening move over IMAGINED Rob “checkers” blunders.

#OhSnap!!

 

Trevor needs clicks and likes. He is really good at keeping his audience but otherwise he has kind of gone south.

 

This part I hadn't heard

Thanks for posting that

I feel better as to why Rob had to go to $6 mil to get him

 

This is what I'm hoping for

Stealth moves by Rob in the background that no one knows about

Like the Luka trade

FA season just started a few days ago

No way to judge Rob at this point

Give the man a chance to do his thing

 

It's amazing how lucky one man can get over and over. Reading the tea leaves, I believe the original FA plan was to keep DFS, try to get a center like Lopez or Capela with the TPMLE, and add another via trade. When DFS opted out, reports indicated we were still interested in bringing him back. Then the Ayton buyout was announced. Yeah, I'm sure Duffy had zero communication with Rob about that, riiiiiiight.

Think it's fair to speculate that during that time, Lakers also got hints that their center targets all required more than the TPMLE. So the choice was to re-sign DFS and make 1-2 trades for centers while depleting your assets, or let DFS go and use a good chunk of the full MLE on a center - leaving all trade assets available for additional moves to get a wing and/or backup C.

Now, Milwaukee unexpectedly using the stretch provision to waive Dame and sign Turner threw a potential wrench in the plan. Wildcards like that happen, but if we did miss out on Ayton and were left with no options, the blame would surely fall on Rob. However, given the early reports of mutual interest and the fact that Ayton made his decision as soon as he cleared waivers, it seems like he was a virtual lock to sign with us. Saying the FO had no plan and just got lucky flies in the face of logic. Nothing here is any less plausible than the baseless speculation of podcasters and aggregators that have zero inside info with the tight-lipped Lakers FO.

 

Additionally it’s clear that Rob was so sure of Duffy’s commitment and the amount needed to sign Deandre that was acceptable …. likely also discussed with the LaRavia signing in mind which further upgrades the team and Ayton’s experience this year …. that he made that move to sign Jake right out of the gate. Everyone of course pines for the types of ballsy, calculated, shrewd moves Jerry Buss the poker player made and rightly so. For Jeanie, Rob, the player evaluators (whoever the H was involved) …. this was in that fashion.

 

The hate against Rob is crazy.

He's an above average GM who has had to balance LeBron and the Lakers individual aspirations.

He's done fine.

If AD and Bron didn't get injured against the Suns, we're looking at a B2B ring...

I'll admit, some moves were bad but every GM makes bad moves. Right now, the clear winners are Nuggets, Rockets, and Hawks. Lakers improved already and there's still moves to make.

Bottom line: If the Lakers can improve their roster this season without sacrificing future assets, Rob did his job.

It's time to put the onus on the players... LeBron is 40 and didn't take less $. Reaves has to play better defense. Luka has to be in better shape and stop complaining every call leading to a 4v5 on the other end.

If the Lakers make a few more moves such as Horford as a backup and 2-3 more wings who can 3/D, the Lakers have enough to win... Look at the Pacers making the Finals. You're telling me they can take OKC to 7 games but the Lakers current roster can't?

 

mostly agree, but i think people really undersell that indy put 4 defenders on the floor with haliburton (who's worse defensively than luka, btw) at all times.

reaves and lebron are both minus defenders (actually both graded out worse than luka last year).

meanwhile, siakam (big plus), myles turner (big plus), nembhard (plus), and nesmith (plus). even mcconnell's a plus!

the best teams have two-way players surrounding their stars. look at denver--and now they've excised mpj and replaced him with a better defending version!

anyway, there's more than one way to win, but unfortunately for us right now, the best teams are stocked with two way guys surrounding superstar offensive engines. we have the latter part--which is by far the harder part. but the other part isn't easy, either.

 

That plus is based on stats?

Because Nembhard is absolutely amazing. I'm a huge fan of him, what a dawg. He made incredible plays all the time, on both sides of the court

 

both he and nesmith look better than the stats have them, but in fairness the stats i like are biased towards bigs defensively. so a guard with a middling positive is pretty great.

point is: we need this. not bradley beal or, tbh, probably even lillard. lebron, luka, and reaves create easy shots. shots average nba players can and should make. we need to find defenders who can make those shots.

 

I find it hilarious that Rob’s performance this summer immediately gets judged as a big failure, three hours into Free Agency, then at six hours, then at eight, and so on and so forth.
Just let the guy do his job, let the dust settle, and see how the team performs throughout the first 20 games or so before your accusations have time to collect any merit.