The Los Angeles Lakers are coming out of one of the most active offseasons in recent NBA history. After winning the NBA Championship in 2020, the Lakers fell short in the 2021 NBA Playoffs and while injuries were to blame, it was clear that the front office wanted to change the direction of the team.
The result was the Lakers making perhaps the boldest move they could have made, trading Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the 22nd overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft to the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook. Then it was time to go to work.
Pelinka had to fill out a roster of 14 players using mostly minimum contracts. Keep in mind, the Lakers only had four players on the roster after the Westbrook trade and one of them (Marc Gasol) is not even on the team anymore.
All things considered, Rob Pelinka did a great job with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The team has to go out and prove it on the court but on paper, Pelinka did a really good job with what he had and that is why the Lakers are favored in the Western Conference.
However, as we have seen with previous moves that don’t pan out, Pelinka is not a perfect GM (there is no such things) and there are previous moves that he would likely take back.
The same could be said for this offseason. The goal is for there to be no regrets from the summer, however, there are three decisions, in particular, that could wind up being hindsight regrets for Pelinka and Laker fans.