Lake Show Life
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Rob Pelinka’s 5 most fireable offenses as Lakers general manager

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 10: General manager Rob Pelinka and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers pose with Westbrook's jersey during a press conference at Staples Center on August 10, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 10: General manager Rob Pelinka and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers pose with Westbrook's jersey during a press conference at Staples Center on August 10, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

3. Letting Alex Caruso walk away for no reason

Constant readers of Lake Show Life are probably sick of me writing about Alex Caruso and I get that. If you are someone who constantly checks in with our work here (thank you!) then you can probably skip this page as you have already read everything I am about to write about Alex Caruso.

The Lakers had a true winning player in Alex Caruso. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Caruso has been one of the best defensive guards in the league and the only guard who has posted a better Defensive Box Plus/Minus has been Matisse Thybulle. When it comes to defensive role players, it is hard to find much better than Caruso.

Caruso was a massive reason why the Lakers were one of the best defensive teams in the league even if he was doing things that do not show up on the box score. Caruso was extremely valuable to the Lakers and was exceptional next to LeBron James. He and LeBron were literally the best two-man combination in the league two seasons ago.

So what happened? The Lakers got cheap. The team could have re-signed Alex Caruso as they had Bird Right on him. In fact, Caruso was even willing to take an offer that was less from the Lakers. The multi-billion-dollar sports franchise, which is the third-most valuable in the sport and the fifth-most valuable in all of America, decided to keep cheap.

Yes, the Lakers would have had to pay a hefty tax penalty but that does nothing towards hurting the cap in future years or providing a competitive disadvantage. It was the team literally pinching pennies like a small-market team despite actively being in a title window.

When the brass tells you that the no. 1 goal is to win a title don’t believe them. If it was, Caruso would be a Laker.

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