The hottest seat in basketball belongs to Rob Pelinka
Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor and contributing writer Tom Haberstroh explain why the Lakers decision maker might not be employed by this time next year. Check out the full conversation on "The Kevin O'Connor Show" and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen .
Video Transcript
It's Rob Palenka.
Ah.
General manager of the Lakers.
It's Rob Palenka.
Jeanie's gone, kind of, sort of.
Seems like she'll be gone.
Jeanie w- was your girl.
She was your protection.
You guys were a pair.
She trusted you, and now there's new ownership again in Los Angeles, and we know what new owners like to do.
They like to make changes.
And so, Tom, if I'm Rob Palenka with this iffy Lakers roster around Luka, boy, oh boy.
I'm wondering if I'm gonna even make it a year with this new Lakers ownership at this point.
I know you did a full podcast on "The Big Number" about the Lakers yesterday.
Are they contenders?
What do you think?
I don't think so.
I don't think right now.
I made the note in Luka Doni's statement, that he copied and pasted from the year before when Mark Walter took over.
He dropped a certain word from that statement, you know, supporting, "Hey, I'm r- I'm really excited about the Mark Walter era.
Like, we can build championships here.
I'm really excited about it."
He dropped that word championships and just- Oh said, "Build something special," is what the- Interesting.
I did not, I didn't notice that.
Huh.
Yeah.
It was- Interesting it was, like, almost verbatim the same speech he delivered- Interesting when Mark Walter took over and saying, "Hey, really excited about, you taking over."
But- instead of using the word championships, he said, "Build something special."
And I think- Interesting because Luka Doni is seeing this roster and recognizing, you know, Walker Kessler at this point in his career, can I depend on him to be the rim protector, rim-running, big that I need to thrive in the postseason?
Is he gonna be a Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford combo, that, that he rode to the, to the finals a couple years ago with Dallas?
And they had a lot more talent around him on that Dallas team than he does right now with the Lakers.
Look, Austin Reaves, with the injuries that he had last year, still a phenomenal, another breakout season for him.
But I have questions about their ability to defend at a high level, shoot at a high level, and stay healthy.
I mean, when we're talking about Walker Kessler played five years with a shoulder injury, five games last year with a shoulder injury, and whether he's up to the task of being an elite big next season.
I think Luka knows it.
This is gonna be kind of a, a reevaluate and see season.
Now year one in post-LeBron era, I think Luka knows, "Look, I, I'm not willing to say we are championship contenders now.
I just want to build something special," and that might not be, in the near term, a title.
