NBA: Top 5 candidates for 2019-20 Executive of the Year

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Rob Pelinka. 5. player. 20. . .

Snicker if you must, but Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has gotten things done since the abrupt departure in April of former president of basketball operations Magic Johnson.

Johnson just sort of blurted it out there, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, and later would scorch some of the earth around Pelinka, telling ESPN’s First Take in May that he felt “betrayed” by Pelinka.

Since being handed the reins of the front office, however, Pelinka has gotten some moves done that Johnson could not — notably closing the deal with the New Orleans Pelicans to land three-time All-NBA big man Anthony Davis.

It cost the Lakers a fortune to get it done, but this was a trade the Pelicans didn’t have to make (unless, you know, they never wanted another player to want to be in NOLA, ever).

Pelinka wound up sending Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and the rights to De’Andre Hunter to New Orleans, along with first-round picks in 2021 (top-nine protected or moves in 2022), 2023 (pick swap) and 2024 (Pelicans can defer this to 2025).

The Lakers also had to dump Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones and Moritz Wagner on the Washington Wizards to clear space, giving up a 2022 second-round as the cherry on top.

Pelinka has also moved to fire former head coach Luke Walton to bring in a more veteran coach in Frank Vogel, and added two former head coaches to Vogel’s staff in Lionel Hollins and Jason Kidd.

Besides getting the Davis trade done, the Lakers signed free agents Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins (hey, it looked like a great deal at the time), Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley, Troy Daniels and Avery Bradley, while retaining veterans JaVale McGee, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo.

After Cousins went down last month with a torn ACL during a workout in Las Vegas, the Lakers auditioned big men before settling on the least likely candidate every to become a second-time Laker in Dwight Howard.

The Lakers are a trendy pick to compete for the top spot in the Western Conference by forming one of the top duos in the NBA in Davis and LeBron James and if they get there, Pelinka will have to get some consideration.