The Los Angeles Lakers really shook up their front office last season when they fired general manager Mitch Kupchak. Recently, he speculated on why he was fired.
It was certainly a big surprise last season when Jeanie Buss made the decision to fire Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak one week before the trading deadline.
Generally, general managers and front office personnel aren’t fired during the season, but Buss made the call to shake things up last season. Buss decided to hire Laker great Magic Johnson to become the team President, and Rob Pelinka was hired to be the new general manager.
Even though Kupchak isn’t positive why he was fired, he did speculate with Adrian Wojnarowski on his podcast. Here’s what Kupchak had to say via Daniel Starkand of LakersNation.com.
"“Why did it happen (us getting fired) when it did? I’m not sure. It was a week before the trade deadline. Maybe they just felt, and I haven’t spoken to anybody since, so I don’t know what their thought process was so I’m really clearly just speculating, maybe they just said ‘well, if we’re going to make a change at the end of the year, then why don’t we do it now so we can control how the trade deadline goes.’ That’s the only thing I can think of.”"
Even though it was a surprising move made by the Lakers, it looks like Buss might have made the right decision so far. Magic and Pelinka appear to have a good plan in place for the Lakers, and they have already made some moves that have set the Lakers up to not only have a great young core but to also be major players in free agency next offseason.
Shortly after the change in the front office last season, the Lakers traded Lou Williams to the Houston Rockets for a package which included a first-round pick. This might have been a move that Kupchak wouldn’t have done, but was a necessary one to help the rebuilding process.
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Less than one year under Magic and Pelinka, there is a lot of optimism surrounding the Lakers. After a great offseason that included a big trade, a solid draft, and a nice free agent signing, the Lakers are getting closer to their goal of making the postseason once again.
Even though Kupchak did have success in Los Angeles, the time clearly came for change. So far, it’s working out.