Rob Pelinka is directly going against his promise to LeBron James

When the Los Angeles Lakers were able to convince LeBron James to come to LA, Rob Pelinka had to completely upend the way he went about his business in the NBA. Gone are the days of building for the future—every move needed to be made to field the best team possible in the short term.

Even though James is going to turn 38 this upcoming season, the situation with the Lakers is so chaotic that there is genuine doubt about James’ desire to keep running it back. Considering the promises that Pelinka made to James in a closed-door meeting, it doesn’t appear that he’s doing a good job of wooing him.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Pelinka told James that he wants him to retire as a Laker and that he will do everything he can to help him compete for a championship every single season. As good as James is right now, the Lakers aren’t a contender at this point in time.

While Pelinka may have thought that trading for Russell Westbrook would make the Lakers an even deadlier team, the reality of what he has created is that James is stuck with a collection of underperforming veterans, free agent gambles, and developing young players. That doesn’t sound like a championship contender James can work with.

Los Angeles Lakers: Rob Pelinka needs to impress LeBron James.

While LA did a solid job of finding players like Lonnie Walker and Troy Brown Jr. that signed for cheap contracts, neither of them should be fourth and fifth options on a title contender. With Westbrook still generally ineffective, it will be on James and Anthony Davis to help LA compete.

Trading Westbrook might not make LA a contender again, but it would undoubtedly be a huge step in the right direction when freeing up some money and adding more quality role players. Trading Westbrook is a difficult move, but this is exactly why Pelinka is in charge of getting James a supporting cast that he can be comfortable with.

If James leaves, this entire franchise could be thrown down into the proverbial dumps. Davis remains great, but he plays like he has brittle bone disease. The lack of draft picks, promising youngsters waiting to take on more advanced roles, and financial flexibility might not appeal to James.

While the LeBron experiment is a success thanks to the championship ring he brought, sustaining that success with James at the helm could be difficult if Pelinka’s mismanagement cripples the team.

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