Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was the topic of discussion for four anonymous agents on HoopsHype.
The Los Angeles Lakers shook up their front office earlier this year. The first move was Jeanie Buss naming Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations. Johnson was not named the general manager; that title eventually went to former agent Rob Pelinka.
Pelinka was a super agent of sorts in the NBA. He was the agent for many high-profile players, including a number of All-Stars. Former Lakers great Kobe Bryant was one of his top clients, as he also represented veterans such as James Harden, Chris Bosh, Eric Gordon and plenty of others. He added younger players in recent seasons such as Andre Drummond, Avery Bradley and Dion Waiters too.
To become the Lakers GM, Pelinka had to relinquish his duties as an agent. He will now join the front office ranks. He is not the first person to go from agent to general manager. Some people did not find success, such as Lon Babby with the Phoenix Suns. He was hired in 2010 as their president of basketball operations but is no longer with the franchise.
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There have been some people that made successful jumps. Bob Myers joined the Golden State Warriors in 2011, eventually working his way up to GM. Justin Zanik joined the Utah Jazz in 2013 as an assistant manager before jumping to the Milwaukee Bucks in the same job.
Pelinka is hoping that he can find success that closely resembles what Myers has done with the Warriors. Golden State is in the midst of what looks like will be a lengthy reign over the NBA. They are absolutely loaded, and Pelinka is hoping he can bring the Lakers back to greatness.
There are some advantages he will have. Being an agent, he has an excellent understanding of the CBA. That will help when trying to manipulate the salary cap and knowing all of the rules and regulations to do it. Recruiting players to join your team as a free agent will be similar to trying to land them as a client at your agency.
While there are positives to being a former agent, there are also negatives. There will be plenty of obstacles for Pelinka to overcome to bring success back to the Lakers. Some agents talked to HoopsHype to discuss Pelinka’s new job as Lakers general manager and how it could impact his interactions with other agents now that he is on the other side.
Four agents were talked to, and they all believed there would be some awkwardness to it. The second agent said the level of the players he was agents for could cause some awkward feelings at the start.
"“It’ll be awkward at first because Pelinka recruited at the highest level,” another agent said. “If you look at his client list, we’re not talking about minimum guys, he had a lot of All-Star-caliber players. I don’t personally have any bad blood toward him, but when you recruit at that level and land those big names, there’s massive competition and animosity. I can definitely see him running into issues or awkward situations early on. But if you’re an agent, you really just have to get over it. Some may hold a grudge, but I think most will just put it all behind them.”"
All of the agents agreed there were aspects of being an agent that will help him transition to being a GM. His knowledge of the CBA is an advantage. There are a lot of the same qualities that make a good agent that can help a GM be successful as well.
Pelinka’s knowledge of the league from his experience as an agent will be what helps him attain success, according to the third agent.
"“I think someone like Rob Pelinka is going to do really well because he knows the landscape of the league, knows the agent business, knows how to recruit and knows who you really need to talk to reach a player,” one agent said. “He also knows what other agents are like – how they operate, what they’ll try to do, things like that. He’ll also know what it means when a certain player signs with a certain agent.”"
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The hiring of Pelinka was a bold move by the Lakers. It ended an era with Mitch Kupchak and Jerry Buss running the show. Pelinka will bring a new vibe to the front office along with Magic Johnson. It should mesh well with Luke Walton on the sideline as the Lakers look to put together their next championship core.