With the Lakers’ 2025-26 ending after theirGame 4 loss to the Thunder on Monday, there will be a period of “deconstruction”, as president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka put it, to figure out how the franchise can elevate itself after a four-game sweep at the hands of the defending champions.
But there will also be a wide variety of reconstruction: Inside the team’s El Segundo practice facility; on the roster; and in the front office.
The front office has already witnessed changes over the last several months sinceMark Walter, the Dodgers controlling owner, officially purchased the team in October.
And there are more to come, with Pelinka saying on Tuesday during his joint end-of-season media availability with coach JJ Redick that the organization is currently in the interview process for two assistant general managers.
One assistant general manager will work in “player draft and evaluation processes”, according to Pelinka, which will include pro scouting, draft scouting and player development.
The other assistant general manager will be more on the “strategy side”, which entails cap, analytics and data.
Pelinka’s comments on Monday were aligned with what he said in February. He told reporters then that he and Jeanie Buss, the Lakers governor and former majority owner, will lead the offseason changes with Walter’s support.
“It’s not that we’ve had holes in those places,” Pelinka said of the assistant general manager hirings. “We got a great team of people that work incredibly hard. It’s just we want to add more to that and for both those [assistant general manager] positions we have started a wide search and have begun interviews, but haven’t hired out either of those.”
The Lakers made significant changes to their basketball operations in the fall, which includedfiring Joe and Jesse Buss from their front-office positions in November. Joey was the organization’s vice president of research and development, while Jesse was an assistant general manager and director of scouting.
The franchise also parted ways with most of their scouting department.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
