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Lakers' Weak Trade Proposal is Final Nail in Rob Pelinka's Coffin

By Joe Summers

Jul 2, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka at a press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Jul 2, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka at a press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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No reasonable basketball prognosticator believes the Lakers have any chance to truly compete this season and general manager Rob Pelinka is the biggest reason why.

He's on the short list of "Worst GMs in the NBA" with little to suggest he's competent enough to surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis with enough talent to challenge for the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, his latest actions prove his detractors are correct.

Pelinka has never been shrewd or particularly capable at his job, though that hasn't stopped owner Jeanie Buss from singing his praises despite a disastrous track record. Based on the most recent reports, there isn't much reason to believe in Pelinka's limited vision.

Rob Pelinka Drops the Ball Yet Again

Even the most casual observers understand Pelinka is among the least successful basketball minds with a paycheck in the entire league. His nefarious roster decisions have destroyed the final years of LeBron's never-ending prime, endlessly trying to fit square pegs in round holes while Buss looks away.

No team is managed worse from an organizational level than the Lakers. It's entirely on Pelinka's shoulders and he'll be remembered negatively, though this new revelation may take the cake.

As Adam Wells of Bleacher Report explains, the Lakers are interested in Jazz C Walker Kessler, a stout defender who could let Anthony Davis roam farther from the basket and act as a free safety on defense.

Unfortunately, "they will have to improve their trade offer to the Utah Jazz if they want to make a deal work...a package headlined by D'Angelo Russell and several first-round picks 'would not be of interest' to the Jazz."

That's an issue for Los Angeles' front office. For all his struggles, Russell is one of the team's most likely trade chips this season. If they can't even package him with picks for someone of Kessler's caliber, who exactly are the Lakers supposed to acquire?

Things off to a solid start under JJ Redick but the roses could become rotten if the same spacing and roster issues from previous years persist. We'll see what happens, but this is a bad sign moving forward as the franchise tries to return to an NBA Finals.

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