Los Angeles Lakers: Has Rob Pelinka proved himself to be a solid general manager?

Rob Pelinka has had his share of critics during his tenure as general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, but after a very strong summer, he may be starting to build faith among Lakers fans

When Rob Pelinka was officially hired as the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers on March 7, 2017, the move caught people’s attention, and not in a totally positive way.

At the time, the Lakers were still deep in the midst of a painful rebuilding process, and the idea of hiring a newbie to run the front office seemed questionable, especially given the infamous impatience of Lakers nation. Combine that with the hiring of another newbie, Magic Johnson, to be president of basketball operations, and it seemed like amateur hour was in effect.

Over the next two years, the pair made a few good moves, such as signing LeBron James and the 2017 draft day trade that nabbed Kyle Kuzma while jettisoning Timofey Mozgov‘s awful contract. But it seemed like they made many more questionable or bad moves.

The free-agent signings of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley were polarizing. Then came a mid-season trade that sent out promising backup center Ivica Zubac for Mike Muscala, a 3-point shooter who doesn’t consistently hit 3s, a move that really made Lakers fans scratch their heads.

Once Johnson abruptly resigned just before the end of the regular season, it was made clear that the team would not hire someone to replace him, which meant that Pelinka would be handling personnel decisions unilaterally.

Many were calling for the hiring of a solid, experienced basketball person to either replace Pelinka or work alongside him. However, Pelinka began to prove people wrong.

Not only did he acquire Anthony Davis for a lower price than what Johnson was reportedly offering the New Orleans Pelicans in February, but Pelinka was able to keep Kuzma, which was huge. Then after Kawhi Leonard signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, Pelinka made an admirable recovery, signing a cadre of players at multiple positions to give his team serviceable depth that can rival any team in basketball.

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In doing what he did during free agency, Pelinka showed some resourcefulness. Leonard was obviously the Lakers’ first choice, and it’s an open question as to what they would’ve done or could’ve done if Leonard had signed with them in order to field a deep-enough team to contend for a world championship.

Even though many high-quality complementary players were off the free agency board once Leonard committed to the Clippers after a protracted (and some would say contrived) courting process, Pelinka still managed to somehow address virtually every weakness the roster possessed.

If that wasn’t enough, once DeMarcus Cousins tore his ACL, the Lakers GM once again did his due diligence, working out Joakim Noah, Marreese Speights and Dwight Howard, before ultimately signing Howard to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract and making it clear to him that if he acts up, he’ll be outta here.

Obviously, the jury is still out on Pelinka. The Lakers may still need to address some type of small weakness or hole by mid-season, or they may have a problem finding playing time for everyone, which may necessitate a mid-season trade. In addition, they need to make sure they re-sign Anthony Davis next summer, and in the summer of 2021 several of their role players will be free agents, at which time they’ll need to reload to one extent or another.

But right now, it’s fair to say that Pelinka, so far, has responded to his critics with flying colors.

Remember when Mitch Kupchak became general manager in 2000? He inherited a team that had just won the championship, and would also win the next two. So when Shaquille O’Neal demanded a trade in June 2004, the true test of Kupchak’s executive acumen truly began, as he needed to build a new championship team around Kobe Bryant ASAP.

For three years he failed to successfully make any trades to give Bryant any help, and there seemed to be no coherent plan to perhaps attract a big name free agent to become Bryant’s new co-star. By 2007 most Lakers fans had turned against Kupchak, but in February 2008 he pulled off a stunning trade for Pau Gasol without giving up much value, and suddenly Lakers fans were saying, “In Mitch We Trust.”

The Davis trade could very well be Pelinka’s version of the Gasol trade. Remember that in November 2007, Kupchak made an underrated small trade, acquiring a young wingman named Trevor Ariza for two non-producing bench players in Mo Evans and Brian Cook. In the summer of 2009, when Ariza’s agent demanded a ridiculous amount of money in free agency, Kupchak left him walk and instantly signed Ron Artest, who helped the team win a second straight NBA title.

Both of those acquisitions also helped craft Kupchak’s reputation as a strong GM.

To be fair, the front office is still rife with what seems to be nepotism, as Kurt Rambis and his wife Linda, neither of whom have any real front office experience, both hold high ranking positions in the Lakers’ organization. Pelinka himself is likely the beneficiary of nepotism himself, as he may have been hired due to the fact he was Bryant’s agent for well over a decade.

But if Pelinka turns out to be every bit of the rock solid GM he has appeared to be the last few months, the Lakers may be just fine, at least in terms of organizational stability.