Rob Pelinka Discussion: BBall Ops Pres + GM (AKA: Lucky Rob)

good lord, man. just saying "it didn't win a ring" is the absolute lamest trump card imaginable. as you just stated yourself, everyone said it wouldn't work...until they absolutely smacked the hell out of darlings okc and minny. they lost to a historically good boston team. the concept is proven: you can at least get to the finals with luka, a secondary creator, and rangy defenders who make just enough shots.

and i'm not sure why you're so mad about it. that's a much easier build than trying to trade for giannis and jokic so that you can be the odds-on favorite.

 

all of your prayers have been answered



https://www.espn.ph/nba/story/_/id/48028870/new-lakers-president-lon-rosen-pelinka-remain-role

LOS ANGELES -- New Lakers president of business operations Lon Rosen believes there are more similarities between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers organizations than there are differences, as the two mainstays in the L.A. sports market.

"I think the Lakers are a really successful group," Rosen said Tuesday, speaking to a small group of reporters to make his first public remarks since accepting the new position last week. "Let's face it, there was a transaction made a couple months ago for the most money you've ever seen for a transaction.

"So, things have to be going well. ... Sitting here today, obviously things will evolve. Are they going to change? I don't know what change means now because that's a pretty good franchise."

New Lakers owner Mark Walter, who purchased the franchise at a $10 billion valuation in October, tabbed Rosen to leave his role with the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers and replaced outgoing Lakers president of business operations Tim Harris.

Rosen, 67, whose first job out of college was an intern for the Lakers before serving as Earvin "Magic" Johnson's longtime agent and later, an executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Dodgers since 2012, projected stability as he became the first high-profile employee to bridge the gap between owner Walter's two franchises.


Lakers add Dodgers executive Rosen to front office

As the Lakers enter into a crucial offseason with major roster decisions to be made to surround 26-year-old superstar Luka Doncic with championship-level talent, Rosen made it clear that Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka will remain in his role -- and be flanked by Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers special adviser Farhan Zaidi.

"I just run the business side, Rob's empowered to do what he does," Rosen said. "Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, they have involvement helping Rob a bit. It gives you a deeper bench, and I think Rob appreciates that. And it is unique. But they have a skill set that they can transfer some of it here. And that's really how we look at it.

"Look, I have a really good relationship with Rob. I've known Rob Pelinka from when he was representing Kobe [Bryant]. I met him many, many years ago."

Rosen also was asked about Johnson, the Lakers legend and former president of basketball operations who abruptly stepped down from his post in the front office alongside Pelinka at the end of the 2018-19 season.

"Earvin is one of the most unique individuals I've known in my life, and he's one of my closest friends," Rosen said. "I've known him since we were both 19. Earvin's involved with all types of things. He owns football teams, baseball teams, soccer teams, insurance companies, a lot of things. He's always going to have some type of involvement with all the teams, but he is not going to have a day-to-day involvement. It's going to be no different since he left the Lakers.

"Obviously, he's a huge fan of the Lakers, but he's not going to be, 'Hey, Rob, go sign this player. Do that.' He'll always be involved with all the teams that he's involved in, but no, he's not going to have day-to-day involvement, at all. He is a super Laker fan and he'll continue to be a super Laker fan. It's not bad to have that."

Rosen then pointed out the way Johnson emceed the halftime ceremony honoring Pat Riley's statue, along with the "Showtime" Lakers, during Sunday's L.A.-Boston C Bags game as an example of Johnson's continued presence.

He also vouched for two long-standing businesses relationships the Lakers have to continue: their home court remaining Crypto.com Arena and their television home remaining on Spectrum SportsNet.


"It's a great building," Rosen said of the former Staples Center, which opened in 1999. "It's very functional. I guess the fans like it, because they come here and they sell it out, and they enjoy the environment, they eat the food, they park their cars -- so it's a very efficient building."

And on Spectrum SportsNet, their regional sports network rights holder since 2012: "I have a pretty unique seat, because I work with two teams that both work with Spectrum. Look, Spectrum is a great partner."

Rosen said he'll still have some Dodgers responsibilities, but the "majority" of his time will be spent with the Lakers moving forward.

And he said Doncic can enhance the Lakers' global footprint, much the same way Shohei Ohtani has for the Dodgers.

"We signed Shohei Ohtani, and the world sort of flipped on itself on a business model," Rosen said. "I think there's a huge growth potential for the Lakers internationally ... and having Luka Doncic doesn't hurt at all. I mean, he's one of the most popular players in the world and we want to jump on his shoulders and see what we can reach out there."

 

i don't love that it sounds like we're not going to try to hire an assistant gm away from another team, and that instead we're just bringing dodgers folks over to basketball?

 

Yeah, I don't understand what that even means yet or the benefit. Best business practices? Totally different financial setup between the leagues, but as much as we all love Kurt and Linda, I'd think he'd be looking for augment Rob's position at a minimum.

 

Magic must be pissed

 

He's on notice. I think it took Mark two years to change out the Dodgers GM or whatever title you give the man who was in charge for operations (was it Ned?), but yeah, they'll make changes, just not right away.

This is what I've been saying. Nothing new.

 

It’s gonna be a s*** show

 

Yes Rob and Jeannie. Of course. You're still in charge....

 

Yeah. We need our own dedicated group.

 

That's a wild stat but the painful reality of this regime.

But, I don't know. I feel like I'm taking Rosen's interview a bit differently than most and I guess its my corporate background.

Pelinka is very much on the clock IMO.

 

i just don't think we even know if rob's capable of building the culture weezy references because his whole tenure has basically been entwined with lebron's. and the team has most certainly taken on the lebron identity, imo.

the spurs have missed the playoffs for 8 of the last 9 years, right? i just don't think lakers fans would deal with that or with what okc did, even, tbh.

i think this summer is the first chance rob will have to attempt to put together a team with a clear identity. this limbo year with lebron/luka was always going to be a mess, imo.

and i, too, wish that we'd bring in some more independent basketball minds to help rob. i'm just not positive that there's no way he can pull something off that we'll like.

 

Yeah, I think he will definitely be guided by Walter and honestly believe that's why we didn't do anything at the trade deadline.

Beyond that, putting on my optimist hat, I feel like we do have the tools to add some pieces this summer that can help Luka and AR. If it doesn't look like Rob is getting it done I expect the hook to be fairly swift.

 

"I think the Lakers are a really successful group," Rosen said Tuesday,

group?
strange

 

i think/hope it will end here. and i'm just not sure what the move was that was going to prevent this. like, the people available last summer would probably be people we wanted to trade this summer anyway. at least with the space, we have a chance at finding some long-term pieces.

the russ trade really started all this, imo. then the luka trade happened, though big turnover was imminent anyway, as lebron/AD were going to be gone last year had we failed in the postseason again.

 

Lebron = roster turnover. I won’t miss this when he’s gone. Still my favorite player.

 

Seeing it highlighted like that is wild but it really emphasizes just how little continuity this team has had over the years. I think there are even more guys who are no longer in the league on that list than I thought which is just crazy.

Terrible team building.