Rob Pelinka has done an excellent job with the Los Angeles Lakers. Dubbed the Vice President of Basketball Operations and general manager, Pelinka is now the sole person in charge of the team’s roster decisions after Magic Johnson left the team in 2018.
Pelinka joined the Los Angeles Lakers’ front office in March 2017 and his crowning achievement thus far is pulling off the trade for Anthony Davis. Granted, Davis sort of hijacked the Pelicans and forced a trade to LA, but Pelinka still got the job done by holding onto his assets instead of trading them earlier for other stars.
Magic Johnson deserves the credit for LeBron James (even though he was probably coming to LA anyway), Pelinka deserves the credit for Anthony Davis. He also deserves the credit for building a contender around the two stars that won the NBA Championship in 2020.
Before joining the Los Angeles Lakers Pelinka was an agent. He represented various players throughout the league, most notably Kobe Bryant, which created a relationship with the Lakers.
While he has not been an agent for almost a half-decade, there are still plenty of players in the league that were once represented by Pelinka.
There are 3 potential Los Angeles Lakers free-agent targets who were previously represented by Rob Pelinka.
Being former clients of Pelinka absolutely helps the Lakers as there is already a relationship there. Pelinka is one step ahead of any other teams that may be interested in the same free agents that have no sort of connection.
There are more former clients on the free-agent market than just these three but they are ultimately non-impactful players (see: Dante Exum). These are three free agents who the Los Angeles Lakers could legitimately target who also happen to be former Pelinka clients.