{"id":121566,"date":"2025-02-02T15:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-02-02T20:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=121566"},"modified":"2025-02-02T15:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T20:35:09","slug":"lakers-news-rob-pelinka-comments-on-luka-doncic-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/02\/lakers-news-rob-pelinka-comments-on-luka-doncic-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers News: Rob Pelinka Comments on Luka Doncic Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As new details and reactions emerge from the <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211;<\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthony Davis<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/02\/lakers-mavericks-trade-luka-doncic-anthony-davis\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trade<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Lakers General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka made his first public comments since pulling off a stunning move late Saturday night.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yes, it really happened. Welcome to Los Angeles, Luka. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XdlZZ5IfNo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/XdlZZ5IfNo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lakers\/status\/1886131486753185875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Lakers News: Rob Pelinka Comments on Luka Doncic Trade<\/h2>\n<h3><b>Pelinka: Doncic Will Lead LA \u201cFor Years to Come\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pelinka and the Lakers put out a <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/lakers\/news\/lakers-acquire-doncic-kleber-morris-from-mavericks-020225\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">press release<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sunday morning formally announcing their new acquisitions. In addition to welcoming Doncic and <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/klebima01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maxi Kleber<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and reuniting with <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/morrima02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Markieff Morris<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Pelinka expressed gratitude toward Davis, <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chrisma02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Max Christie<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hoodsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jalen Hood-Schifino<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are overwhelmingly thankful for AD&#8217;s six seasons with the Lakers, where he led our franchise to a championship and cemented himself as a perennial NBA All-Star. We are proud of Max Christie&#8217;s development as a Laker as he has grown into an impact 3-and-D player and we are appreciative of the work Jalen Hood-Schifino has put in to show professionalism at every level. Sports are about transformative moments. We are inspired by these moments Lakers fans know, expect and love with a franchise that continually ushers in new eras of greatness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Luka is a one-of-a-kind, young global superstar who will lead this franchise for years to come. His killer instincts and commitment to winning championships will be a driving force for the team. We will be relentless in building a roster around the on-court vision Coach Redick has for this basketball team and there is an unwavering commitment to that work to serve our loyal and dedicated fans. We are grateful for today and look forward to what&#8217;s next.&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><b>Lakers Shut Down LeBron Trade Rumors<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following the arrival of Doncic, who will eventually shepherd the Lakers into a post-<\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LeBron James<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> era, reports confirmed that James will still don the purple and gold long after the Feb. 6 trade deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cLeague sources inform me that LeBron James intends to remain a member of the Los Angeles Lakers past the February 6th trade deadline,\u201d Yahoo! Sports insider Chris Haynes said. \u201cI was told the Lakers were very appreciative of the professionalism displayed by Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul and LeBron James. They felt like those two made this process a seamless process, and they appreciate them for their efforts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sources: LeBron James intends to remain a member of the Lakers past the Feb. 6 trade deadline, and the relationships behind the blockbuster Luka-AD deal. <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/haynesbriefs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#haynesbriefs<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X7H7eQE347\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/X7H7eQE347<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uMTEMUYbDX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/uMTEMUYbDX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisBHaynes\/status\/1886103874102255770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The confirmation of James\u2019s loyalty to the Lakers is significant. The <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/39523705\/sources-warriors-made-bid-lebron-james-trade-deadline\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Warriors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0had tried and failed to land him at last year\u2019s deadline, prompting similar discussion around James&#8217;s standing with the franchise. With Davis out of the picture, it was important for LeBron and the Lakers to shut down any speculation about The King\u2019s future in LA.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>LeBron Has &#8220;Dreamed&#8221; of Playing Next to Luka<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although James unexpectedly parted with an elite teammate, he joins a star he has &#8220;dreamed&#8221; of sharing the court with for years, according to ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;LeBron has dreamed of playing with Luka Doncic for years. This is something he never thought but badly, badly wanted,\u201d <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/basketball.realgm.com\/wiretap\/279033\/LeBron-James-Dreamed-Of-Playing-With-Luka-Doncic-For-Years\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Windhorst said<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on SportsCenter\u2019s SC@Night. &#8220;When Luka was deciding where he was going to go within Nike, LeBron pressed him very hard to come to his shoe brand &#8230; he was trying to recruit him then, he saw a vision of them playing together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Windhorst added that the LeBron-Luka connection was so strong that <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kyrie Irving<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> used it to try and lure James to Dallas this past offseason. How the tables have turned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"LeBron James has &#039;DREAMED&#039; of playing with Luka Doncic - Brian Windhorst | SportsCenter\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4fariI2Wfk4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As is the case many times in Los Angeles, James gets his wish\u2014even though he was <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mcten\/status\/1885929640071422236\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">blindsided<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by the move in the first place. The Lakers will embark on this new era in short order, with <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheSteinLine\/status\/1885935442169835546\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doncic previously targeting a Feb. 8 return date<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the team hoping he can <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/10153148-report-goal-is-for-luka-doncic-to-make-lakers-debut-before-nba-all-star-break\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">suit up prior to the All-Star break<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The latest chance for the Lakers to fulfill that possibility is against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 9 p.m. ET\/6 p.m. PT.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As new details and reactions emerge from the Luka Doncic&#8211;Anthony Davis trade, Lakers General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka made his first public comments since pulling off a stunning move late Saturday night. Yes, it really happened. Welcome to Los Angeles, Luka. pic.twitter.com\/XdlZZ5IfNo &mdash; Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 2, 2025 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":114958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,4721],"tags":[240,4907,406,38,1133,4916,759],"class_list":["post-121566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-anthony-davis","tag-jalen-hood-schifino","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-max-christie","tag-rob-pelinka"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121583,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121566\/revisions\/121583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}