UPDATE (3:36 PM PT): Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports that the Lakers are finalizing a multi-year deal with Rob Pelinka to become the team’s general manager:
Lakers are finalizing a multi-year agreement with agent Rob Pelinka as general manager, league sources tell @TheVertical. He'll start soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) February 21, 2017
The Los Angeles Lakers and new president of basketball operations Magic Johnson are not wasting any time in getting their new front office shaped up.
Not long after the announcement was made, rumors began to surface that Rob Pelinka, agent to Kobe Bryant and James Harden among others, was the favorite to be named the team’s new general manager. Now according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN has already begun informing his clients that he will soon be announced as the Lakers new GM:
Pelinka has begun informing his clients of possibility of him being Lakers GM, per sources. He's widely expected to be announced soon.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 21, 2017
Another one of Pelinka’s clients was Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon, who also spoke about Pelinka being the Lakers GM as if it was already a done deal via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:
Eric Gordon: "(Pelinka) is going to be the GM of the Lakers. He's going to be good. I expect nothing but good things. He knows basketball."
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) February 21, 2017
With an extremely important offseason coming up and the trade deadline just a couple of days away, Johnson and the Lakers clearly felt that they wanted to get everything situated as quickly as possible. Pelinka, as a former agent, has the knowledge of the CBA and connections with players that Magic was speaking about.
Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers, whom the Lakers reportedly targeted originally, is also a former agent who made the leap to becoming a GM and the Lakers definitely hope that Pelinka will be able to do the same.
This is a major shift for the Lakers as so much is changing in a short amount of time. Hopefully this will all work out best for the NBA’s premier franchise.
