Rob Pelinka Discussion: BBall Ops Pres + GM (AKA: Lucky Rob)

I think you're underestimating the work it will take to get out of some of these contracts if we need to. We still have Vando, even though he hasn't been part of the rotation for years, and these are potentially more damaging contracts if the guys don't perform.

 

Vando was paid off the hope he could develop his offensive game.

I would argue that both Sandro and Grimes are paid fairly for what they can produce today. Like if Grimes puts both sides of the ball together for the first time in his career. He is a 38% 3 pt shooter, a good defender (especially chasing shooters and navigating screens) and he can run the offence and create on ball. That's worth 25m per.

Sandro is a two way floor spacing big that does everything pretty well. I'm not sure if he has any more room to develop, but if he just keep shooting and be at the right place at the right time, that's worth the contract.

Sexton will be a useful part of the rotation in the regular season. He is a Kennard replacement basically. Guy will let it fly, expect 6+ attempts at 40%. When the playoffs get tight, I think he'll be benched.

Basically we looked at the advanced stats and realised that if we added a few key profiles, teams wouldn't be able to slow down our offence. It's a shame we don't have another stud defensive wing until Carr & Adou develop.

 

We win a championships or two over the next few years this contract will seem pretty insignificant.

 

lol

 

Lots of work to be done still this summer. I am indifferent on Pelinka. Could be worse could be better.

Now need a C and a wing. Clock is ticking.

 

we literally got a starting center and a small ball center backup. There is also DA.

EDIT; LOL just saw that we traded DA for picks, essentially. LOL

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g3FQd2czoe4

Trevor Lane is spot on, Rob doesn't care about the long term of the Lakers, it's all about fixing short term holes.

 

IF that's true, get mad at ownership for allowing it. they could have stopped it if they thought it was harming future prospects.

i think rob sold them that we needed a full teardown/rebuild this summer if we hoped to do anything over the next three years. i agree with him and have since last summer when the foundation for this was laid. the feelgood end of season and improbable houston series impacted a lot of people, but not rob (nor me).

we could neither keep rolling with what we had nor continue to kick the can. we had to identify obtainable players that we thought fit and sign them as if they were going to be part of the team going forward. we couldn't have a whole roster of potential free agents again. and our space this summer was our last chance to nab a young impact player without losing reaves (or luka, i guess). we did it.

it could blow up on us, but so could the other options, and the clock is ticking. if any of them blew up, we were looking at a nastier rebuild in two to three years anyway.

 

if lebron left, my bar for a good offseason was obtaining two good young starters.

kessler definitely counts--he's almost 1.5 for me. theoretical grimes is one, but i'm not counting him. kuminga would be another one, imo (i know there's disagreement here).

mamu and sexton's salaries couldn't have been combined to get another starting caliber player in his mid 20s, so i'm ok just finding viable bench players with that.

this is why if we get kuminga, i consider the offseason a huge success. between kessler/grimes/kuminga, i'm calling that "two starters", as i'm betting that one of grimes/kuminga grows into that role, and quickly.

 

If we …. errrr …. Rob pulls that off it’s a pretty great reset of the roster staying reasonably competitive just off these post season moves, and not doing the usual big dive after losing a star player of LeBron’s stature.

 

i think getting kessler makes it a B for me almost right away, but i just think it's really hard to get young guys that good. people are mad about 2 1sts and the swaps, but lesser players have gone for more, and recently, imo.

that said, i do think people are being a bit judicious with the unprotected firsts with the new lottery system. firsts might have a bit more buying power than they did last year.

still, we tried to get mark williams with one first and one swap (and knecht before everyone found out he couldn't play). and utah had turned down 2 1sts for kessler as recently as february.

i thought we'd have to give a max contract to get one of the two center RFAs and that we might even have to add a pick in that scenario.

 

All five starters from Game 1 of the Rockets series are gone. That’s insane. Pelinka might be the worst GM in the NBA.

 

I'd give him a B.

I just don't know how you can let Smart and Ellis walk away at a combined $15 million. Sexton at $9 million is great value because he's a 15 PPG bench scorer who scores efficiently but you need stops and no one on the Lakers perimeter can give you that.

If they got Smart, Ellis, and Grimes, I would have given this an A.

Obviously if they had kept LeBron, this would be an A+ free agency.

If they get Kuminga, they probably turn this into an A. Kuminga and another backup center would make this team very formidable, IMO.

 

pretty much exactly as i see it.

 

Ayton had to go once you get Kessler. He was never going to be happy if he wasn't starting and it looked like he was already unhappy with how the Lakers were using him. They had a mutual understanding that he was going to get traded if he opted in. Ayton knowing he might not get many offers and opted in, Lakers knowing they could move him for some 2nd round picks due to a dry center market.

Rui had to go. Sorry but this experiment lasted way too long. Since he's been on the Lakers, he had made zero improvements on the important aspects of the game required from a player when surrounded by stars.

Kennard took less $ to play with the Suns because he lives in Arizona. And the Lakers found a suitable replacement in Grimes who is younger and a better defender.

Sucks to lose Smart... I agree, should have kept him or found a suitable replacement in Ellis. My guess is the Lakers just wanted to go young and felt that Smart wasn't something they could build on. Can the Lakers build on Sexton, Grimes, and the young overall roster they have now for the future? Yes. Smart was never going to fit that timeline.

And LeBron is pretty self-explanatory. There was always a chance he was going to leave regardless of what the Lakers did.

 

Lakers' Next Steps In Roster Build