LOS ANGELES — The 17-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers are working with the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on their basketball affairs.
Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations and general manager, detailed the working relationship before the Lakers played the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, speaking to reporters for the first time since Dodgers owner Mark Walter’s purchase of the Lakers at a $10 billion valuation became official in late October.
“[It’s] been great to have sort of outside allies and advocates looking at the Dodgers and the success they’ve had and what they’ve built over there, and being able to tap into a person like Andrew Friedman for best practices,” Pelinka said.
Friedman, 49, is the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations and joined the ballclub in 2014, shortly after Walter bought the team from Frank McCourt in 2012.
“He’s so incredibly smart and has done such an amazing job bringing championships to the Dodgers,” Pelinka said. “So just to have another head of another team that you can, whether it’s a roster move, whether it’s a staff move, just someone that you can talk to has been an incredible resource.”
Beyond his rapport with Friedman, Pelinka said that he, Walter and Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss have discussed the ways in which Walter can further support the team, starting this summer. Buss will continue to be acting governor for at least four more seasons after 2025-26, according to the Lakers.
“When Mark bought the team, Jeanie and I did a really deep dive with him on sort of the areas he wants to grow and move into and get aggressive,” Pelinka said. “Looking at the Dodgers and how they built it out has been a great sort of example and North Star. And so we’re still going through that process of how we’ll look in the offseason and what additions we’ll make. But there will be some positive changes and we will build things out.”
Beyond stating that one of those expected changes will be hoping to mimic the Dodgers’ draft process and farm system structure, Pelinka made it clear what the Lakers’ power structure will be when implementing those changes.
“Led by myself and Jeanie,” he said, “and with Mark’s support.”
The Lakers have fewer personnel in their front office than many other teams around the NBA. Ever since Magic Johnson’s surprise resignation as Lakers president of basketball operations in 2019, Pelinka has been the principal decision maker for the franchise, with Kurt Rambis serving as a senior basketball advisor. The front office became even less crowded in November, when the Lakers fired Joey Buss, then the Lakers’ alternate governor and vice president of research and development, and Jesse Buss, who was an assistant GM, along with several members of the scouting department.
Pelinka said the Lakers would follow the Dodgers’ lead and he plans to hire executives around him.
“[The Dodgers], just the way they’ve sort of built out their front office, how deep it is — there is no expense they’ll spare in being the best sort of front office in the world,” Pelinka said.
Pelinka also addressed the Lakers’ approach to Thursday’s trade deadline and the team’s plans for the roster this summer, when L.A. will have three future first-round picks available to trade as well as projected cap space close to $50 million.
• On trading Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Luke Kennard: “When you get to add the best shooter in the game to your group at the deadline, it’s a great opportunity. So, we seized it.”
• On other opportunities that could have been available to L.A. before the deadline passed: “I would say we were aggressive. And one form of being aggressive is saying no to moves that come your way that might not be best for the short- and long-term future. That’s being aggressive, even though you end up doing nothing, because it’s hard to say no sometimes to getting a good player that could be a quick short-term fix, but could have implications for the long term where it doesn’t fit into the overall vision you have for the team.”
• On the Lakers positioning for the summer: “I think it’s clear for all the teams in the league that this dual-apron system is harsh and strict, and some teams have dabbled over the second apron and realize it can be a real challenge. … Knowing that there’s an unintended consequence when a new system comes into place, teams kind of learn their way through it. We felt like creating optionality or having optionality now is really a positive thing for us this coming offseason. Because there’s some teams that maybe have gotten too deep into the aprons. And I think players, we see around the league, that become available when teams get in that position.
“So, whether it’s through free agency, whether it’s keeping our own players, whether it’s looking around the league for players that are really good that maybe teams are trying to get off salary, we feel like there’ll be so many different ways to complete our roster in the offseason.”
• On the Lakers’ interest in the buyout market: “We are evaluating [our open] 15th roster spot and at some point probably will likely fill it.”
