Los Angeles Lakers Extend Rob Pelinka, Give Him Promotion

The Los Angeles Lakers leadership is locked in for the foreseeable future. On Friday, ESPN’s Shams Charania announced the Lakers agreed to a long-term contract extension with General Manager Rob Pelinka while also adding the title of President of Basketball Operations to his job description. With J.J. Redick in his first season as the head coach and still under contract for multiple seasons, the Lakers now have stability for their future.

Pelinka, who has been the Lakers’ general manager since 2017, has made big moves during his career, such as bringing LeBron James over to LA. Perhaps no move has been as big as the one that he made in February when he traded Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic. It is a trade that has been considered the most shocking in NBA history. With the trade helping the Lakers get the No. 3 seed in the West for the playoffs, Pelinka now gets to cash in on his big acquisition.

What the Signing Means

In extending Pelinka, it means a couple of things. For one, it means that the Lakers ownership has bought into the direction that the team is going with Doncic expected to be the face of the team for over a decade. It also means that while the Lakers have enjoyed minimal championship success under Pelinka– with only the bubble championship in 2020 to show for it, he has done a good enough job to put them into perennial contention.

The signing could not come at a better time, either. With James at the age where he can retire at any time, the organization needed to make sure that they had a plan in place for sustainable success once their superstar retires. While Doncic is the player who will take over James’ role, Pelinka being there gives them an executive who can continue to build around Doncic and bring in the necessary pieces. With plenty of assets to work with this summer, Pelinka has many possibilities at his fingertips.

Final Thoughts

Pelinka was already in line for an extension before this season with how good of a job he has done at building a good Lakers roster. But after making a splash for Doncic and bringing in another superstar to pair with 40-year-old James, it was evident that Pelinka needed to stick around. He was rewarded big time. Now, he can focus on bringing sustained success to Los Angeles while knowing he has job security.