Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Lakers announced the hiring of Rob Pelinka as general manager. Pelinka has experience as a lawyer and agent, so his major selling points are his connections in the basketball industry and his experience working with basketball players and front offices as an agent. During his introductory press conference, Pelinka's main message was about returning the Lakers to glory after a few seasons of wallowing in obscurity. While some of his comments came off as a little cheesy, like the comment about the Lakers giving hope to refugees in war torn countries, he overall came off as very sincere and serious about restoring the Lakers to glory.
In comparison to the clowns they had in the front office before, Rob Pelinka seems like a fabulous upgrade. He's plugged in to the basketball industry, knows the ins and outs of it, and he can relate well to players. Plus, he's got a great relationship with Kobe Bryant and firmly believes in the Lakers brand as a force for good around the globe. If you are the Lakers, what more could you possibly want?
The biggest challenge that Pelinka has going forward is fixing the mess that is the Lakers. D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram may become a solid one-two punch, but I don't see them forming a championship level threat. Nobody on this Lakers team has "superstar" written all over them and if you are the Lakers, you simply cannot have that.
The good news is that Rob Pelinka is a very well respected person who could attract and recruit quality free agents to round out his roster. The Lakers have always lived on landing quality free agents to take them to the next level and Pelinka appears to have the chops to allow them to do that.
Overall, I really do think Rob Pelinka is a home run hire for the Lakers. He's got the connections, the experience, and the overall understanding of what the Los Angeles Lakers are about. If you are a Lakers fan, you should be feeling really good about the direction of the franchise.
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