Rob Pelinka’s disastrous history with Lakers centers

The Los Angeles Lakers waived DeAndre Jordan on Tuesday to make room for DJ Augustin just months after signing the veteran big man, who was previously waived by the Brooklyn Nets. Jordan’s tenure with the Lakers was not memorable as he was noticeably too slow on the court and was cut out of the rotation as a result.

Jordan is yet another example of a failed decision at the center position by Rob Pelinka and his front office. While Pelinka was able to bring in two superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, he has never quite been able to nail the center position.

In fact, center has been the Achilles’ Heel of Pelinka’s team-building (well, besides Russell Westbrook, but that was one move). Perhaps it is because Anthony Davis should be a center. Perhaps it is because the position is thin.

Regardless of the position’s lesser importance in 2022, Pelinka could have done a much better job than he has done at the five. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at all the decisions that he has made about the five (spoiler alert: most of them are bad).

A brief history of the center position since Rob Pelinka joined the Los Angeles Lakers:

Pelinka was officially hired by the team in March of 2017 after Jeannie Buss fired Mitch Kupchak. When Pelinka took over the Lakers had Ivica Zubac, Timofey Mozgov and Tarik Black on the roster at the center position. That is when Pelinka made perhaps his only good move when it comes to the center position.

June 2017: Timofey Mozgov + D’Angelo Russell traded to Brooklyn for Brook Lopez

This was a savvy move by the Lakers. The team was drafting a better point guard that year in the draft in Lonzo Ball and was able to package D’Angelo Russell into a trade to get Timofey Mozgov’s atrocious contract off the books after the 2017-18 season.

The Lakers got an expiring contract in Brook Lopez in return. However, that led to the first big mistake that Pelinka made at the center position (and we are not including Julius Randle as a center, even though the Lakers should have traded him instead of letting him walk for free).

July 2018: Letting Brook Lopez walk for nothing

The Milwaukee Bucks signed Lopez to a one-year, $3.3 million contract following the 2017-18 season using their bi-annual exception. Lopez went on to be a key member of the Bucks, netting a four-year $52 million contract the following offseason.

Lopez was never going to be a long-term option for LA but the team upset him so much that he was willing to leave and sign a cheap contract elsewhere. Lopez would’ve been great next to LeBron James the following season and maybe they wouldn’t have made the next few mistakes.

July 2018: Waiving Thomas Bryant

The Lakers had a special center in the G League and with Brook Lopez, Julius Randle and others leaving the team, it seemed like the perfect chance to give the promising Thomas Bryant a chance. Instead, the Lakers waived him for a roster spot and he was picked up by the Washington Wizards, turning into a legitimate rotational big.

This might seem like hindsight managing, but waiving Bryant was something that I forecasted the Lakers would regret when it happened back in my days at LA Sports Hub.

February 2019: Trading Ivica Zubac for Mike Muscala

The Lakers traded a legitimate starting center who was finding his stride with LeBron James for half a season of Mike Muscala. We wish this was a joke.

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Rob Pelinka then lucks out with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee.

The best season for Lakers centers was the 2019-20 season and quite frankly, it was pretty lucky. JaVale McGee was already on the roster and the team brought in DeMarcus Cousins to play alongside him. Cousins got hurt, prompting the Lakers to make a desperate move and sign Dwight Howard, who seemed like he was on his way to retirement.

This extended Howard’s career and gave the Lakers someone who actually played a decent-sized role when called on in the 2020 NBA Playoffs. Oh, and he hit the last shot of the 2019-20 season, a three.

Speaking of Howard…

November 2020: Letting Dwight Howard walk AND trading JaVale McGee to get Marc Gasol 

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But the Lakers tried. The team let Dwight Howard walk when Howard himself thought he was coming back to LA and then traded McGee to the Cavaliers to open up salary-cap space to bring in Marc Gasol.

As you know, Marc Gasol was horrible for LA and was traded this past offseason for essentially nothing. He is now retired.

November 2020: Signing Montrezl Harrell (and not utilizing him properly)

Montrezl Harrell has shown this season that if he is utilized properly he can be very impactful to a team. He was to the Clippers before the Lakers and he has been this season after the Lakers. He just had arguably the worst season of his career since becoming a true rotation player in between with the Lakers.

March 2021: The Andre Drummond dud

The Lakers thought they were hitting a home run when they signed Andre Drummond as the big-name buyout signing of the 2020-21 season. Instead, Drummond proved to make the team worse by clogging the paint and losing his spot in the rotation.

2021-22 season: Pursuing DeAndre Jordan

Finally, Rob Pelinka thought signing DeAndre Jordan was a good thing for the team even though the preseason NBA Title favorites, who don’t have great depth, actively wanted him off the team before the year.

Let’s also not forget about the forgotten centers in LA over Pelinka’s tenure. Looking at you, Tyson Chandler and Andrew Bogut.