Golden State broke the mold and hired an agent as a general manager in Bob Myers a few years back. Safe to say that has worked out fairly well for them.
Now the Lakers will try to replicate that experiment — they are on the verge of hiring Kobe’s former agent Rob Pelinka as their new general manager, according to both media reports and the players he has under contract. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports was first with the news.
Lakers are finalizing a multi-year agreement with agent Rob Pelinka as general manager, league sources tell @TheVertical. He'll start soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 21, 2017
Pelinka's history repping Lakers - including Kobe - offers him knowledge of unique Lakerland/Buss family dynamics. Lakers a different beast.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 21, 2017
Backing up those reports, several of Pelinka’s players have come right out and said the agent is taking the job. Via Calvin Watkins of ESPN.
Trevor Ariza on Pelinka: "I think he'll be unbelievable in that role. He knows basketball. He has a really, really good eye for talent."
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) February 21, 2017
Pelinka will serve as the right-hand man for Magic Johnson, and will handle the day-to-day operations of the basketball side of the organization. On his first day, Johnson talked about working closely with coach Luke Walton, Ryan West (an assistant GM and son of Jerry), Jessie and Joey Boss (two of the Buss children also working in the front office, and well respected). Pelinka would be part of that collaborative effort — which is how most successful front offices work. While one person with the hammer has to make the final call, the best organizations have teams of guys who provide views from scouts, analytic departments, coaching staffs, capologists, and more (including ownership on the biggest deals). The idea is to synthesize all that information into an informed decision.
Pelinka would bring to the table things Jim Buss and Kupchak did not — he is personable and good in the room with players. Kupchak and Buss were disasters in free agent meetings with stars in recent years, but if you don’t know how to recruit as an agent, you starve. Pelinka also ran a team with his agency of competing personalities, he knows the CBA well, player contracts well, and he has good contacts all over the league.
Plus, Kobe wanted it.
Not surprising in the least, but I'm told Kobe was pushing hard for this Rob Pelinka-Lakers partnership. The Kobe influence will be felt.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 21, 2017
