Rob Pelinka, General Manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, has provided information about the team and its plans for next season. During a press conference, Pelinka spoke about the relationship between LeBron James and his son Bronny, as well as the possibility of making changes to the roster for the upcoming NBA season.
Pelinka stressed the importance of developing young players and building a long-term, sustainable team. While acknowledging that the window of opportunity to win a championship with LeBron James and Anthony Davis is limited, he assured that the team is committed to competing at the highest level.
Pelinka said he is willing to consider any move that could improve the team in the long term. However, he also stressed that it is important to be cautious and avoid impulsive decisions. Pelinka even shared a funny anecdote about LeBron and Bronny James during a workout.
According to Senior NBA reporter Jovan Buha via X (formerly Twitter), Rob Pelinka says that Bronny James switched onto LeBron James in a scrimmage yesterday, and LeBron took him baseline and finished with an up-and-under, followed by some trash talk.
Lakers’ path forward: Building a sustainable future
The Lakers have a talented and competitive team, but they still face challenges to reach the level of the best teams in the NBA. The addition of young players and the development of existing talents will be critical to the future success of the team.
“I think the philosophy that J.J. and I are aligned on is we want to build sustainable Lakers excellence,”Pelinka said. “I think when you talk about moves, you can make a move that backfires. I think every GM has made a trade that they say, ‘Ah, that one wasn’t ideal.’ But every lens that we look through has to lead to sustainable Lakers excellence.”
So, the direct answer to your question is yes, we would do a trade with both picks if that will lead to sustainable Lakers excellence. We would also use one pick to make a marginal upgrade if we felt like it was the right thing to do. We looked long and hard and did a lot of work at seeing if there were ways to increase the overall roster talent this offseason, and the right move didn’t present itself. It’s not an excuse to say we have a different system that is more of a limiting system for trades and moves, and so there’s just less of a supply for opportunities. But we will continue to study and scour the marketplace, and if the right move presents itself that leads to long-term Lakers excellence and improves our team this season, we’ll pull the trigger,” Pelinka added.