Pelinka Addresses Pending Lakers Sale, Praises New Ownership Prospects

For the second consecutive preseason media availability, Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka was constrained in his remarks regarding the franchise's pending ownership change. The team is undergoing a significant transition, with a $12.5 billion sale from Mark Walter to businessman Josh Kushner and former Disney executive Bob Iger reportedly in the works, following a previous $10 billion sale from the Buss family to Walter.

Pelinka, speaking Thursday alongside coach JJ Redick, stated that league rules prevent extensive discussion of the sale while it is pending. However, he shared that initial meetings with Kushner and Iger have been "excellent" and "really, really positive."

Despite the ongoing ownership transition and past complexities involving the Buss family's potential stake sale, Pelinka emphasized that the franchise's day-to-day operations have not been tangibly altered. "We're operating with Lakers excellence," Pelinka said. "We're continuing to build out a world-class front office. Proud of the people we've added, incredibly proud of the energy we've had upstairs. We're super excited about the people upstairs, the coaching staff, the support staff, the roster. Nothing's changed day-to-day."

Pelinka highlighted recent additions to the Lakers' front office, including two assistant general managers: Eric Amsler, focusing on player personnel, and Rohan Ramadas, who will oversee cap, analytics, and data. These hires are part of more than 15 front office additions made over the past few months. "Super appreciative of the support from Jeanie [Buss] and ownership to build out," Pelinka said. "Really built out our strategy and analytics department, have hired two assistant general managers. Have more to do, and we're actually continuing to do that."

He further detailed the reconstruction of the player experience and development arm, which includes new equipment and recovery modalities. Pelinka indicated a desire to expand the scouting departments, specifically mentioning the addition of scouts for player personnel, draft evaluation, and G League and NBA scouting.

"You guys saw we hired Eric Amsler, who was with two decades with the Heat to kind of see over our player personnel, our draft scouting, our G League scouting and NBA scouting – we're gonna be adding more scouts in those departments," Pelinka explained. "That's just one example of a sort of a vertical that we'll continue to build. And there are others, too. But it's been a really robust last two months. The players are already seeing the differences. And we'll continue, like I said, to set the gold standard with the people we have upstairs."

The influence of Dodgers executives Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, who took on special advisory roles following Mark Walter's initial purchase, remains uncertain. They were involved in the assistant general manager hiring process. Pelinka expressed gratitude for their insights but acknowledged the interim period prevents definitive statements about their future roles. "We can't really talk in this interim period," Pelinka said. "There's just a transaction that's going on. I will say this, I'm super grateful for the opportunity to learn from incredible leaders like Andrew Friedman. And the reps and time and conversations we've had have been enriching for me. He does an incredible job. Good luck to the Dodgers in three-peating. So, we'll see."