Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers first signed then-age 33 LeBron James in 2018, the franchise has understandably been in win-now mode. The front office understood the need to take immediate advantage of having an elite player before the window of opportunity closed.
The results over the past five years have been mixed. In LeBron’s first Lakers season, he was surrounded by an odd combination of players. James shared court time with second-year youngsters Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and Kyle Kuzma, third-year guys Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac and grizzled veterans JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo. About the only teammate truly in his prime was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Injuries limited LBJ to just 55 games while Ball, Ingram and Rondo also missed significant action, and Zubac was traded away. The team finished 37-45, ranking just 23rd in the NBA, and failed to qualify for the 2019 playoffs.
But that summer, after Magic Johnson suddenly, unexpectedly resigned from his front office position, General Manager Rob Pelinka traded Ingram, Ball and Hart along with a few draft picks and swaps for star Anthony Davis. Pelinka then filled out the roster by signing (or re-signing) players such as Avery Bradley, Dwight Howard, McGee, Markieff Morris and Rondo to one-year contracts.
The formula worked to perfection in the following pandemic-shortened season. The Lakers compiled the best regular season record in the West, 52-19, and went on to win the 2020 title.
Over the next three seasons, Pelinka continued his win-now approach. And, to retain maximum flexibility, he signed players almost exclusively to one-year deals, sometimes with a second-year player option. So a parade of players young and old donned Lakers uniforms for a single season.
For the 2020-21 season centers Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell were added along with guards Wes Matthews and Dennis Schroder, each to one-season contracts. Both Davis and James missed a slew of games to injury, the team slipped to 42-30 and was predictably bounced from the first round of the playoffs by Phoenix
The following year, Pelinka signed Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Bradley again, Wayne Ellington, Howard again, DeAndre Jordan, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn and Rondo again, all to one-year deals. Additionally, he shipped off Kuzma and KCP in exchange for Russell Westbrook, who had 2 seasons left on his contract. But once again the two stars sat out a ton of games, and the Lakers fell to 33-49, missing the playoffs entirely.
In the summer of 2022, Pelinka continued to use the same methodology. Patrick Beverley, Troy Brown Jr, Thomas Bryant, Damian Jones, Schroder again, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Lonnie Walker IV were all signed to… you guessed it… one-year contracts. The team got off to a horrendous start, losing its first 5 games and 10 of its first 12. It looked like it was going to be another forgettable season.
But prior to the trade deadline, Pelinka discovered his inner Jerry West and made a series of moves that would change the arc of the season. He swapped out 6 players (Beverley, Bryant, Jones, Nunn, Toscano-Anderson and Westbrook) in exchange for 6 others: Mo Bamba, Malik Beasley, Rui Hachimura, Davon Reed, D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt.
The improvement on the court was almost instantaneous, and the team got stronger as the regular season progressed. The Lakers won 10 of their final 12 games to earn a berth as a play-in team. After ousting Minnesota, they beat both Memphis and Golden State, each in 6 games, to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Hachimura, Russell and Vanderbilt all played important roles, as did emerging star Austin Reaves.
Although they were swept by Denver, the team had chances to win each of the four games. To a man they believed that if they had more time together on the court, the result might have been different.
And in this offseason, Pelinka has demonstrably changed his mindset. With a team still anchored by soon-to-be age 39 LeBron, he hasn’t deviated from his win-now mantra. But for the first time since he’s been in the front office, the GM started to prepare the Lakers for the post-James era.
How the Lakers are preparing for life without LeBron James:
Specifically, he re-signed Reaves and Hachimura, but not to just one-year or even two-year deals. Instead, he inked both to three-year contracts, and Reaves has a player option for year 4. The two 25-year-olds should now reach or approach their peak in a Lakers uniform.
Along with that, he also signed free-agent guard Gabe Vincent for three seasons. Then, as soon as AD was eligible, Pelinka extended his contract through the 2026-27 season (with a player option for the 2027-28 season), indicating that the torch would be passed from James to Davis.
Additionally, Pelinka added a large dose of youth to the roster. First, he drafted Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis. Both are under team control for at least the next 3 seasons. Next he signed three players to two-way contracts (Colin Castleton, Alex Fudge and D’Moi Hodge) who may end up contributing down the road.
He also signed free agents Jaxson Hayes, age 23, and Cam Reddish, 24. Neither one has yet played to his projected potential.
The net result is that Pelinka has achieved a dual accomplishment for the first time. To begin with, he has assembled a roster that can contend for a title this season. Frontline players LeBron, AD, Reaves, Russell, Hachimura, Vincent, Vanderbilt, Hayes, Reddish, Taurean Prince and hopefully promising second-year player Max Christie should be able to compete against any other NBA opponent.
But the GM has also laid the groundwork for the future. The team has committed to 6 different players for at least 3 seasons each. Somewhat surprisingly, 11 of the 16 players on the roster are age 25 or younger, including all 5 rookies. Many of these youthful players will not only provide energy this season but will be on board to play important roles in years to come, long after LeBron James has moved on.
That doesn’t mean Pelinka can sit back and relax. Nobody knows with certainty how good the rookies will turn out to be. Also, both Vanderbilt and Christie are on expiring contracts, and the GM should want to re-sign each of them.
There’s also Russell, who had a dismal performance in the WC Finals. He re-signed for just one year plus a player option, leading many fans to expect the team to trade him at midseason. However, he may surprise everyone by providing consistently good play.
But for the first time in at least the last 5 seasons, the Lakers now have a true nucleus of players who will be here beyond just the current season. And that is particularly noteworthy because this could be LeBron’s final one with the team, especially if his son, Bronny, joins the league next season.
Rob Pelinka has made his share of mistakes. But now he deserves credit for taking the first significant steps towards setting up the Lakers for life after LeBron James.