This is it, right? This is the offseason for Rob Pelinka to either secure major job security moving forward, or face the music of Mark Walter's new ownership group attempting to leave their own mark on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Thus far, it has been business as usual for Pelinka. Dave McMenamin confirmed earlier this offseason that all dealings in Los Angeles were still running through the Lakers general manager as they have been for a while.
"Multiple agents who had dealings with the Lakers this offseason told ESPN that their communication with the franchise still flowed through Pelinka, just as it had before Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter bought the team."
That means, despite the front office additions, Pelinka is the face of this retool around Luka Doncic. It has been an active overhaul that saw the Lakers get rid of each player who started Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets. That is a loud statement from the president of basketball ops in Los Angeles. It is one that will define him moving forward — for better or worse.
Rob Pelinka tied his Lakers future to the 2026 roster overhaul
This offseason was always expected to have significant roster turnover. Even then, perhaps no one could have quite anticipated just how much would change in remodeling the team around Doncic and his co-star, Austin Reaves.
Luka, Austin, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, and Adou Thiero are the only players still left from the 2025-26 roster. At least three of those names — Vanderbilt, Knecht, and James — have floated in rumor mills as potential departures, too.
That could mean, when the dust settles, two thirds of the roster is featuring new faces. While the approach is certainly understandable to some capacity, it does still come off as a noticeable gamble by disassembling the foundation of a team that was in the second tier of squads in the West last season, only truly trailing the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.
New ownership groups can often include big changes. However, rarely is it ever an immediate and swift process of clearing house. Walter and his guys are going to afford some leeway to those that came before them.
However, these are the prime years of Doncic after all. Maximizing those seasons will be important, especially with the need for another contract extension already quietly creeping in for Luka.
Does that mean Pelinka gets immediately judged on the success or failure of the 2026-27 campaign? With Walter settling in, Doncic only having two guaranteed years under contract before a player option, plus the all-in push on Walker Kessler and the other new faces, the answer to that could easily end up being a resounding yes.
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