The Lakers’ ownership drama may be starting to have an impact on the basketball side of the operation.
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, there is a belief around the NBA that the Lakers won’t be able to finish building out their basketball operations department until the team’s ownership situation is resolved.
Los Angeles had planned to hire two assistant general managers, with one focused on analytics and the other on player scouting. The Lakers also have yet to make progress filling out their pro scouting department, Woike reported.
That’s becoming a timing issue. Preseason games are roughly a month away, meaning the Lakers already faced a tight window to hire and integrate new front office personnel. With ownership now in flux, completing that process before the season appears increasingly unlikely.
Of course, “in flux” may be putting it mildly.
Mark Walter has agreed to sell his controlling stake in the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner in a deal valuing the franchise at $12.5 billion. The remaining Buss family shares were then set to be included in the transaction, only for Jeanie Buss to challenge the proposed sale through her attorney.
Iger also told the California Post last week that it was too early to say what the new ownership group intends to do.
“It’s just premature to speculate at all about what we plan to do, because frankly, we haven’t made any plans yet,” Iger said.
Meanwhile, Rob Pelinka remains in charge of basketball operations. He signed a contract extension in 2025 and, at least to this point, has remained in place through all the ownership upheaval.
So the Lakers have a GM. Building the rest of the front office around him apparently will have to wait.
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