Can the way a baseball team operates be successfully imitated in basketball? Lakers fans are about to find out.
Not only is their new majority owner Mark Walter in charge of the Dodgers, but he’s also bringing some of those talents to the Lakers. Lon Rosen is now the President of Business Operations for the Lakers after spending the last decade-plus with the Dodgers.
And, according to a recent piece by Dan Woike of The Athletic, the similarities won’t stop there.
The plan, according to Pelinka and sources,
is for the Lakers to expand its front office around the president of basketball operations by reforming its college scouting staff, building a modern pro scouting department and adding to its existing analytics department. The goal is to mirror the Los Angeles Dodgers’ successful front office, which has mastered player identification and development, in addition to working with a seemingly unlimited payroll.
While baseball fans complain about the Dodgers’ wealth, a lot of their success stems from their ability to identify and develop players. Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger won back-to-back National League Rookie of the Year Awards in 2016 and ‘17.
The Dodgers continue to develop young prospects like Josue De Paula, who will likely impact the team’s success in the future. This is why the Dodgers are considered by many baseball experts to be one of the best organizations at developing homegrown talent.
There are also players like Chris Taylor and Max Muncy, who were miscast or misused with other franchises but landed with the Dodgers and became key pieces to winning teams. In a sport with a salary cap like the NBA, being able to identify those types of players is even more valuable than in baseball.
The Lakers have found plenty of quality players in the draft before, from top picks like Lonzo Ball to undrafted players like Austin Reaves. Recently, though, they missed on their first round selections, such as Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Dalton Kencht is out of the rotation and viewed as a negative asset by NBA scouts.
Given that the Lakers let go of the Buss brothers, who were integral to the scouting department, bringing in new people is a top priority. Tony Bennett has recently been brought on as an NBA Draft advisor, the first publicly announced hire for the team’s scouting department.
The idea of copying the Dodgers’ dynasty and applying it to the Lakers is exciting, but basketball is an entirely different sport.
The Lakers can’t spend on players like the Dodgers under the NBA’s CBA. They can, however, spare no expense on all other hires. Being aggressive in providing the franchise with as many top resources as possible will give them the best chance of success.
Things might be changing all around the Lakers front office, but at the top, it will remain the same.
Rob Pelinka is reportedly staying on as President of Basketball Operations as the Lakers aim to be aggressive in what’s set to be a summer with a ton of cap space and dreams of Giannis Antetokounmpo becoming available.
The Lakers will need people who understand NBA basketball and its politics at the highest level for this to work anywhere near as well as it has for the Walter’s baseball team. Perhaps that’s the role Pelinka can thrive in.
Hopefully, the number of new people like Bennett and the workers Walter trusts, like Rosen, can blend to make something special in downtown Los Angeles. And soon, the baby Lakers will be a sign that the front office is winning in the margins while its star players rack up victories on the floor.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
