Not only did Pelinka receive an extension, but he was promoted to president of basketball operations in addition to his general manager title.
Pelinka has been a member of the Lakers family for a while having been Kobe Bryant’s agent, and while he is excited about this extension, he knows there is more work to be done, as he said in an interview with Spectrum SportsNet:
“It’s all about the work. That’s what we’re paid to do and Jeanie Buss is the greatest governor in the game and to be able to work with her every day and work for our fans, that’s what we’re about.”
Pelinka has had an up-and-done tenure since taking over as Lakers general manager, but there’s no denying the last year has been an exceptional one for him.
He hired JJ Redick as the new head coach and then his first trade was bringing in a 3-and-D wing in Dorian Finney-Smith at minimal cost. Then, of course, the big move was trading for Luka Doncic and securing the organization’s long-term future.
Pelinka is right though that there is more work to be done this offseason as the Lakers will need to make moves to form their roster around Doncic. In the meantime though, they are trying to make a postseason run with a roster built on the fly after the unexpected trade for Doncic.
Jeanie Buss trusted Rob Pelinka with hiring of Lakers coach JJ Redick
One of the reasons Rob Pelinka earned an extension is because he nailed the head coaching hire last offseason by bringing in JJ Redick. And Jeanie Buss recently revealed that was Pelinka’s decision and she put full trust in him during the coaching search.
“And he, after doing his work, came back to me and JJ was really resonating with him and their conversations. It was really just relying on Rob and believing in what Rob’s vision was for this team and him doing the homework and him coming up with JJ as the right candidate. And what I did was talk to people about the things that I was concerned about, meaning a first-year coach. I don’t wanna keep having to change coaches if things don’t work out. I want somebody for the long run, somebody that has a vision of the kind of team that he wants to run and I just kept getting such good feedback about JJ. And so I was eager to meet him in person I had never met him. But really my confidence was in Rob Pelinka and believing and knowing that he could lead this team and that he should have the opportunity to have a coach that really reflected his vision for what Laker basketball could be.”
