Rob Pelinka Discussion: President Of BBall Ops + GM + Extension

Magic and Kareem both came into the League ready to dominate, and both delivered immediately. Magic was the Finals MVP as a rookie. Kobe is recent, he played 20 years, maybe time dulls memories. I can totally get the young guys being all about Kobe..he's probably all they know

 

So what? Magic had two years of college under his belt at 20. Kobe was 18 his rookie year when he came in straight out of HS. Two years later just like he did with 6'9" athletic beast with 50 pounds on him LeBron, Kobe in his prime gave him all he wanted and more and would have done the same with Magic. You just ignored my statement that all around in every skill facet of the game both sides of the ball, Kobe was the superior player there's no question. Kareem didn't have Dream's exquisite footwork but Kobe did and he could shoot a "baby sky hook" just like LeBron can. Jordan wasn't the shooter from deep in the clutch that Kobe was. Handles, mid range, attack and dominate at the basket, passing, every shot in the game including left hand and a lock down defender that Magic was never considered to be, and played 7 more years than Magic as the heart and soul of the team. 5 rings too. I saw the the f****** 80s and prior to that to remember when Wilt got his ring here .... LT = Long Time.

 

The only players I have above Magic is Kareem, Jordan and LeBron, that's it

Magic mastered team basketball and the results were obvious. Kobe had more individual talent, but team wise, Magic might be the best ever. Kobe had issues with shot selection, and playing outside of the team at times which is why I have Magic higher.

Regardless we've had some of the best ever play for the purple and gold.

 

No, Rob isn’t on the hot seat. He got Luka Doncic, maybe that’s due to Dallas’ hubris and insistence on trading him, but we didn’t give up a lot.

If at the start of last season you told me, we can trade for Doncic via AD, Reaves, Knecht and 2 firsts. I’d have done it. He kept 3 of those assets.

Rob will be on the hot seat if we fail the next two years to bring a championship here with Luka. Unfortunately LeBron’s contract could be the anchor that sinks him.

 

you said it not me. but that's why i thought him opting in was pretty amazing. if rob was involved in making that happen, he earned his money, imo. i know you wanted the mle, but i want not to be under lebron's thumb.

and i think rob needs more than one year post-lebron to fight for his job.

 

That’s assuming that LeBron retires this year, and/or decides to finish his career elsewhere in the case he doesn’t retire.

I think it’s just as likely he does the retirement tour in 26/27 and has one last go around. But I guess it depends on a lot of factors. Maybe this is the last year after all.

 

point is--he can't just opt in to 60 million dollars even if he tears a ligament or something, steve nash style (but x10). again, i'll be very surprised and pleased if it's just an opt-in. huge win for us, imo.

 

Yeah..well for some reason, you are severely underating the Magic man, while overrating Kobe IMO. I don't care about who could dribble or shoot better, that doesn't make Kobe the superior player

Bro.. Magic had won two Finals MVP's by age 22. All that personal skill stuff, that you are talking about, doesn't make Kobe the superior player to me. If that makes up your definition of the better player, that's cool, that's your preference.

I respect the hell out of Wilt, he's still one of the most dominant human beings, to ever pick up a basketball. (I don't really get the Kobe comparison)


However I followed Kareem to the Lakers, that was my idol. I don't talk a lot about Wilt, West or Elgin, because I wasn't a Lakers fan during their time.

I saw Kobe as a rookie too, and watched him grow up, wearing the Purple and Gold. I still don't place him above Magic, or Kareem, as Lakers or as NBA players period. Cap is the GOAT to me, but the Magic man, is the greatest Laker. I still think Magic would have won a rematch with Jordan, if not for the HIV situation.

We have a difference of opinion on this subject, and that's really ok.

 

Dumb a** roster moves, and poor talent evaluations, are what's going to sink him. The only faith I have in Luka getting a ring, in the near future, is with LeBron on the team. Conversely that doesn't mean that Luka might not win anymore chips, it just won't be with Rob Pelinka in charge.

I hope Im totally wrong, that means that we collected some trophies. All Hail to Pinocchio if that happens.

 

if getting luka won't do it, nothing will for the rob haters, imo. if he was sam presti, there'd be a statue despite the first round exit, lol.

 

Meh..What exactly did he do? We had a player that Dallas would accept, for a guy they were committed to moving. It looks like they moved on down the line, and we said yes. That's not some grand, stunning move, definitely not as originally hyped. Good job of not screwing it up Rob!!

Rob's a** will be on fire, and JJ will be going back to TV, if we get bounced early next season.

 

It all gets so stupid, Magic, Kobe, Jabbar, Lebron, Luka, Wilt, West, Baylor, they are all great players. I am really to the point where I simply don't care who the GOAT is, which one is better, blah blah blah.

 

case in point.

 

Meh...Pinocchio doesn't have the luxury, of resting on his laurels, while roses are being thrown at his feet.

The Dallas Mavericks are presently, in a better position, to compete for a chip post Lebron, than the Lakers. So are OKC, Denver, and Minnesota. Possibly Houston, Memphis and San Antonio too. The arms race never stops in the West.

However the window to a chip, is still open for us, while we still have LeBron James. We should go all in NOW.

Im pretty sure that Luka, is going to be paying close attention, to how Pelinka moves, moving forward. I imagine that Luka is thinking, we have me and Lebron, it shouldn't take some massive overhaul to be a contender.

This offseason is HUGE..

 

it's huge, but maybe not for the reasons you suggest, imo.

it would be equally huge if we go all in on some dumb stuff, lebron has a career-ending injury, and we're stuck with a roster optimized to lebron and luka when we only have luka.

all choices need to be made with the post-lebron years in mind, imo. if we sneak another ring in with him, that's a cherry on top, imo. if we ensure we can't build a team with luka just because we wanted to get a ring tomorrow, i'll be mad.

 

Lebron James is about to retire man, haven't you figured that s*** out yet? Lol..I mean you keep going on and on, about building around Luka.

Well Duh. Is that supposed to be some kind of Eureka statement? There isn't a piece available to us, better than Lebron James, even at 40. You act like you can't comprehend that for some reason.

Better get it done now, I don't expect him to play past this upcoming season myself. I guess getting Luka, finally allowed your Lebron hate to seep out onto the open.

Lol..It's ALL Lebron fault!!!

 

The off-season sure is long. And it’s only getting started. Yikes!

 

i'm still not sure any good center was really available to us unless we wanted to deplete another area on the roster. can you think of the one that got away? i can think of lots we wanted and discussed, but none that moved for things we had to offer, either in trade or FA. i suppose i wanted us to get plumlee in FA twice, and he was close to what we could afford, iirc (vet min once, tpmle the other?). anyway, not a huge difference maker. maybe could have gotten gafford with a 1st when dallas got him? not sure i remember the circumstances, but both slick and i had mentioned him as a possibility, i think (same with washington).

moreover, after vogel, i don't think either of our coaches really stressed the importance of spending more on a center. jj paid it lipservice early last year, but it feels a bit like that was to placate AD more than an earnest ask. do you think if valanciunas were here, last year goes much differently?

we actually traded for mark williams, too.

anyway, my larger point is that i think folks ask more of our gm than they ask of other gms. the retort to that is "we're the lakers" or something, but this just means we're going to be mad at our FO perpetually any time we don't win a ring, i guess. winning a ring and trading for doncic would buy any other gm possibly a lifetime of goodwill, imo.

sam presti blew up a potential dynasty and kept his job for another decade of mostly futility before building another title-level team. and he's the very best!

indiana was sub-.500 for three years recently, but the gm and coach remain, and they're in the finals now.

we're in pretty good position both now and going forward. we can keep saying all of rob's success is luck, but i'll take his luck over joe cronin or whomever's skill, i guess. but really, i'm just not worried that our management is what's going to hold us back.

and i trust that if the summer is quieter than people want, it may end up ok that it was.

 

He hasn’t been the best, but most certainly hasn’t been the worst. He went away from the blueprint of success around AD and LeBron. He was involved in the worst trade in Laker history, but then bounced back nicely with players that got us to the WCF. Yes, Nico came to Rob with the trade of a lifetime, but without that relationship, we would be a very bad team for many years after LeBron leaves.