{"id":148,"date":"2026-06-28T20:59:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T20:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=148"},"modified":"2026-06-28T20:59:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T20:59:28","slug":"to-avoid-ned-collettis-fate-rob-pelinka-has-to-deliver-this-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=148","title":{"rendered":"To avoid Ned Colletti\u2019s fate, Rob Pelinka has to deliver this offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"To<\/div>

<\/p>\n

\n

If only. If Rob Pelinka<\/a> could use the Dodgers\u2019 blueprint to renovate, Lakers fans wouldn\u2019t even be sweating this summer.<\/p>\n

But, you know. Baseballs and basketballs, apples and oranges.<\/p>\n

The windup and sales pitch are the same, though: Deliver a sustainable, high-rising, championship build. On time and \u2026 about that budget. One team has none. The other\u2019s is tight.<\/p>\n

In baseball, they wear caps. In the NBA, they\u2019re compelled to stay under them.<\/p>\n

In baseball, they can swing freely (for now). In basketball, they\u2019re hamstrung by aprons.<\/p>\n

Ned Colletti<\/a> had it easier, and he lasted only two relatively successful seasons in his role as Dodgers general manager after Mark Walter<\/a>\u2019s Guggenheim Baseball Management group bought the ballclub in 2012.<\/p>\n

Pelinka has it tougher as the Lakers\u2019 general manager and president of basketball operations. But like Colletti before him, with Walter having purchased the majority stake in the Lakers, Pelinka is going to have to crash the hourglass and build a winner with haste. Er, the<\/i> winner.<\/p>\n

If the Lakers lay anything but an 18th brick on their championship foundation in the next couple seasons, Pelinka\u2019s story probably is going to go a lot like Colletti\u2019s.<\/p>\n

When free agency opens Tuesday, Pelinka is just going to have to show us how creative he can be, how clever and cunning.<\/p>\n

He already hit a grand slam with the Luka Doncic trade in 2025. In one of the NBA\u2019s all-time heists, Pelinka brought the then-25-year-old Slovenian superstar to L.A. from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for essentially an aging and injury-prone Anthony Davis and just one first-round draft pick.<\/p>\n

Before that, Pelinka hit another home run with Austin Reaves; a four-bagger so deep that Doncic\u2019s undrafted backcourt-mate has now procured the proverbial bag. (Four years, $185 million worth of baggage to the Lakers.)<\/p>\n

With those pillars cemented, Pelinka\u2019s job is delivering the A-list center Doncic reportedly desires.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Lakers <\/picture>\n
\n

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic. Can Pelinka build a winner around Doncic?<\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Doesn\u2019t matter that all the perceivable candidates \u2014 from the Utah Jazz\u2019s Walker Kessler to the New York Knicks\u2019 Mitchell Robinson, the Milwaukee Bucks\u2019 Myles Turner, the Detroit Pistons\u2019 Jalen Duren, the Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 Jarrett Allen, the Mavericks\u2019 Daniel Gafford, even old friend A.D. \u2014 sit on a spectrum of unlikely to unwise.<\/p>\n

Still, the best plan: Make Doncic happy; make a run at Kessler.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a 24-year-old, defensively adept big man who would be a great pickup, just hard to get. But whether it\u2019s overpaying in restricted free agency or working out a sign-and-trade deal, pry him away from the Jazz.<\/p>\n

After nailing down a center, Pelinka also needs to really<\/i> hit on the margins. Because in the modern NBA, the marginal is major.<\/p>\n

The current contenders have depth borne of seasons spent tanking and loading up in the draft on athletic, affordable young talent or, in the case of the recently crowned Knicks, having a leading man take $113 million less than he was eligible for, as Jalen Brunson effectively did, to be able to play with his best buds.<\/p>\n

In L.A., the Lakers don\u2019t really have the first option and shouldn\u2019t ever expect the second.<\/p>\n

But Pelinka doesn\u2019t have to swing for the fences every time; he doesn\u2019t need to wow us now, he needs to have wowed us later. Take swings like he did trading for Rui Hachimura or netting sharpshooter Luke Kennard.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Former <\/picture>\n
\n

Former Laker Pau Gasol, right, speaks with GM Rob Pelinka during a Lakers practice in 2025.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

No one bats 1.000, of course, not even Andrew Friedman, the architect of the Dodgers\u2019 three World Series titles since taking over as president of baseball operations in 2014.<\/p>\n

But for the Lakers\u2019 potential $51 million of cap space, for all of this summer\u2019s much-hyped optionality, Pelinka\u2019s competitive new boss isn\u2019t the type to forgive errors that are forever front of mind for the Lakers\u2019 faithful.<\/p>\n

Pelinka can\u2019t strike out on free agent signees like Gabe Vincent and Kendrick Nunn. Can\u2019t let someone like Alex Caruso walk. Can\u2019t whiff on draftees like Dalton Knecht or Jalen Hood-Schifino \u2014 and better hope he hasn\u2019t on this year\u2019s selection, Cameron Carr, who fell to the Lakers at No. 24.<\/p>\n

The wrinkle, this offseason: Last year\u2019s Lakers \u2014 41-year-old LeBron James, Hachimura, Kennard and, if he opts out, Marcus Smart \u2014 will be among the most attractive free agents on the market, and they\u2019re proven fits for a team that reached the second round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

But merely re-signing those guys won\u2019t improve the Lakers\u2019 odds of getting past the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

And simply outspending those teams isn\u2019t an option, either. So Pelinka is going to have to go bargain hunting, he\u2019s got to find some hidden gems, pull some tricks out of his sleeve. Surprise us, like great general managers are supposed to do.<\/p>\n

This is Pelinka\u2019s opportunity to show us his<\/i> blueprint for bringing another title to Los Angeles, to build a case for himself.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If only. If Rob Pelinka could use the Dodgers\u2019 blueprint to renovate, Lakers fans wouldn\u2019t even be sweating this summer. But, you know. Baseballs and basketballs, apples and oranges. The windup and sales pitch are the same, though: Deliver a sustainable, high-rising, championship build. On time and \u2026 about that budget. One team has none….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/2046752\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5909x3102+0+0\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa2%2Fb0%2F36e26c7c46d0905934cc3eef0b89%2F1463371-sp-0624-lakers-redick-rcg-1020.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[196,198,202,199,197,203,201,200],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-avoid","tag-collettis","tag-deliver","tag-fate","tag-ned","tag-offseason","tag-pelinka","tag-rob"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}