Lakers management is undergoing a purge. Former executive: Pelinka should be next

After the Los Angeles Lakers fired Joey Buss and Jesse Buss, a former NBA executive said in an interview with the American media "Lakers Daily" that Mark Walter's next move should be to eliminate president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka.

The Lakers laid off most members of their scouting department except for the Buss brothers on Thursday. The former NBA executive, who has dealt with Pelinka many times, told the Lakers Daily that Walter should fire Pelinka and hire a helmsman with "greater basketball intelligence."

"If Rob is retained, the Lakers will not be able to win the championship in the Luka Doncic era." The former NBA executive said, "Mark needs to hire talents who understand basketball operations better than Rob to run the team affairs."

"I very much agree with the decision to fire Joey and Jesse. Although everyone always gives them the credit for discovering Reeves Jr., but The truth is that Austin actively chose to try out for the Lakers and rejected the Pistons' draft invitation in order to join the Lakers. This was not the insight of the Buss brothers, but the result of Austin and his team's planning. Don't think that Magic has forgiven Pelinka for his backstabbing behavior. "

Pelinka currently serves as the president of basketball operations and general manager of the Lakers. Although they successfully signed Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake Larevia this summer, it should be noted that these operations mainly relied on the recruitment assistance of Doncic and Reeves. Doncic convinced Ayton and Smart, and Reeves facilitated the joining of Larevia.

Although Pelinka acquired Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks last season, the deal was actually facilitated by Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison who proactively contacted Pelinka.

"Anyone can complete that deal." The former executive commented, "Rob's business ability is not outstanding. With superstars like LeBron and AD, he only won one championship. When the two superstars almost begged him to strengthen the center, he was always indifferent. Mark knows this well. If I were to advise Mark, I would suggest that he part ways with Rob and instead hire talents who did not obtain their positions through personal relationships with Kobe Bryant."