{"id":177166,"date":"2026-02-09T17:20:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T22:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=177166"},"modified":"2026-02-09T17:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T22:20:52","slug":"report-rob-pelinkas-future-with-lakers-on-life-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/02\/09\/report-rob-pelinkas-future-with-lakers-on-life-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Rob Pelinka’s Future With Lakers ‘On Life Support’"},"content":{"rendered":"

While speaking to reporters in the wake of last week\u2019s NBA trade deadline, Lakers President and General Manager Rob Pelinka revealed that <\/span>changes would eventually come to the team\u2019s front office<\/span><\/a>, aiming to model it after their MLB counterpart, the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe baseball system and the NBA system are totally different in terms of how you can build a roster and what you can do to spend. That said, I think just their draft process and sort of how they\u2019ve established their farm system is amazing. And I think there\u2019s best practices in that as we evolve and get better going forward in those areas.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, could those potential changes include replacing him? One NBA source thinks so, according to a new report.<\/span><\/p>\n

Report: Rob Pelinka’s Future With Lakers ‘On Life Support’<\/h2>\n

Heavy Sports: Pelinka\u2019s Status Hinges on Back Half of Lakers\u2019 Season<\/h3>\n

In remarks made to Heavy Sports\u2019 Sean Deveney at last Thursday\u2019s deadline, the source <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnless they catch fire in the second half of the year, unless they really come on and make a run in the playoffs, it\u2019s got to be on life support, it is going to be tough to see how he survives. If they\u2019re in the play-in again this year, with LeBron James<\/a> and Luka Doncic<\/a> on your roster, it\u2019s hard to make excuses at this point. Does he have the respect of the league? Does he have a clear vision? That\u2019s the problem. And the other problem is there\u2019s a new owner who isn\u2019t going to sit on his hands.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Lakers added <\/span>Luke Kennard<\/span><\/a> as their lone deadline transaction, and the veteran made a solid first impression with ten points (including a 2\/4 showing from three), two assists and a steal in 26 minutes against the Golden State Warriors. After the win, LA rewarded South Bay Lakers standout <\/span>Kobe Bufkin<\/span><\/a> with a <\/span>two-year contract<\/span><\/a>, filling their <\/span>previously vacant roster spot<\/span><\/a> with the G League\u2019s scoring leader (27.7 PPG).<\/span><\/p>\n

In two fell swoops Thursday, Pelinka managed to address at least two of the Lakers\u2019 critical needs: shooting (a strong suit for Kennard and Bufkin) and defense (which <\/span>Bufkin<\/span><\/a> provides with room to grow). Both are vital additions to the team\u2019s second-unit offense, which has consistently struggled this season but could improve with their help, alongside promising production from <\/span>Marcus Smart<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Rui Hachimura<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Jarred Vanderbilt<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Feb
Feb 7, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luke Kennard (10) controls the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lakers\u2019 Second-Half Run Vital in More Ways Than One<\/h3>\n

Since James\u2019 arrival in 2018 and the team\u2019s title in 2020, the Lakers have clawed through three Play-in Tournaments en route to varying postseason exits (twice in the first round, once in the Western Conference Finals). Last season brought some new hope under head coach JJ Redick\u2014which was enhanced when the Lakers acquired Doncic\u2014but that too ended in a first-round loss, a far cry from the organization bearing championship expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n

With 31 regular season games remaining and a fifth-place standing in the West, the Lakers\u2019 performance will be vital for both the players and Pelinka, who remains under the microscope in the James-Doncic<\/span><\/span><\/a> era. The team\u2019s lack of aggression at the deadline and recent moves to address bench production will prove pivotal for their playoff hopes and Pelinka\u2019s standing, as years of polarizing decisions appear to have finally come to a head.<\/span><\/p>\n

After years of LeBron\u2019s future being thrust into the LA spotlight, it seems his is not the only one worth monitoring at season\u2019s end.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While speaking to reporters in the wake of last week\u2019s NBA trade deadline, Lakers President and General Manager Rob Pelinka revealed that changes would eventually come to the team\u2019s front office, aiming to model it after their MLB counterpart, the Los Angeles Dodgers. \u201cThe baseball system and the NBA system are totally different in terms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":169376,"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":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[4848,38,1133,769,759],"class_list":["post-177166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-kobe-bufkin","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-luke-kennard","tag-rob-pelinka"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177166","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=177166"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177177,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177166\/revisions\/177177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}