Rob Pelinka’s Time with Lakers Ending? Stephen A. Smith Believes $12.5 Billion Sale Could Change Things at Lakers

Rob Pelinka's future is not clear even though Jeanie Buss and head coach JJ Redick seem to have secured theirs after Lakers sale.

Rob Pelinka’s Time with Lakers Ending? Stephen A. Smith Believes $12.5 Billion Sale Could Change Things at Lakers

Rob Pelinka and Stephen A. Smith (Image via Basket Land/Hoop Central/X)

Now that the Los Angeles Lakers have a new set of owners, most of the questions raised are about the futures of Jeanie Buss and her entourage, Rob Pelinka, and head coach JJ Redick.

The previous owner, Mark Walter, passed on nearly 80% of the organization’s shares to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for a record-shattering $12.5 billion. That means he made a cool $2.5 billion profit from his 14-month stint as the owner.

Now that he is out of the building, so will his executives, who had moved over from the Los Angeles Dodgers and other businesses to help the franchise become as dominant as its baseball counterpart.

Even though those executives had taken up key positions, Rob Pelinka’s tenure as the President of Basketball Operations was secure. Now, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith does not think that will continue.

I think Rob Pelinka will not be there running basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. I don’t believe that will happen moving forward… If there is a way to get that man (Bob Myers), I think you go get him.

Smith said on his namesake show

The analyst agreed that Jeanie Buss should continue as the Lakers’ governor, at least until both his former boss, Iger, and his partner get to grips with how to run the franchise.

But the same cannot be said about Rob Pelinka. Smith has in the past asked the Lakers to sign Bob Myers when the former Warriors GM was alongside him inside ESPN’s studios.

Now, after signing both Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to the Philadelphia 76ers, Myers has proved he is miles ahead of Pelinka in building championship squads. The Lakers should think of throwing the checkbook at him.

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Rob Pelinka will get help from Mark Walter’s executives until Lakers’ new owners take over

When Mark Walter sent his best executives over to the Los Angeles Lakers, the idea was that their success with the Dodgers would be used to help Rob Pelinka and the other basketball executives improve the team.

This offseason, the manner in which the former Nike executive attacked free agency left many to believe that some of that effect did rub off. After all, he brought in a bunch of impactful players with the $53 million LeBron James left behind.

But now with the new owners coming in, Stephen A. Smith’s belief might come true. However, that change could take some time, since the league and its board of governors have to vote.

All of the brain trust, and all of those Dodger guys who built this behemoth that’s in MLB, they were helping to run the Lakers for the last 6 months… Until this goes through, that’s still going on. Everyone who’s been hired… they’re still gonna keep doing what they’re doing. So, it doesn’t mean anything in the beginning here.

Ramona Shelburne said

The ESPN senior writer said this on Stephen A. Smith’s show was essentially a reminder that Rob Pelinka and Mark Walter’s staff will work together until the league ratifies this sale. That means the GM has time on his hands to prove his worth.

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New owners taking over the Lakers could take some time

Ramona Shelburne suggested that Rob Pelinka and Mark Walter’s executives will hang around until the NBA governors vote to approve the sale. But before that, new majority owner Josh Kushner has something else he needs to take care of.

New Lakers owners Josh Kushner & Bob Iger
New Lakers owners Josh Kushner & Bob Iger (Image via Purple & Gold Brazil/X)

Josh Kushner is a minority owner of the Miami Heat… He will have to sell his share of the Miami Heat. The Heat don’t sell shares very often. That’s a very closely held team… He also has to sell the shares before he can buy the Lakers. That potentially could take some time.

Brian Windhorst said on Hoop Collective

If Windhorst’s prediction is true, then it will be a while before the sale of Kushner’s minority stake in the Heat could prolong this entire process. That could also indicate that Rob Pelinka might be able to keep his job for a while.

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