As the Lakers focus on a critical Game 5 against the Rockets on the court, the team is also preparing for important moves off the court as well.
One of the bigger changes expected under the new ownership of Mark Walter is an expansion of the front office. President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka confirmed the franchise would spare no expense to do so.
On Wednesday, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype provided insight into some of the first positions the team will be looking to fill this offseason.
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Los Angeles Lakers are considering multiple front office staff additions looking ahead to next season, including at least one assistant general manager and another potential high-ranking role, league sources told HoopsHype.
The Lakers did have an assistant general manager under Pelinka in Jesse Buss, who was fired, along with his brother, in November. As it stands, no one else is listed as assistant general manager.
This will be an interesting time for the team, particularly because it should offer the front office an opportunity to bring in outside voices. Under Jeanie Buss, the front office remained small through internal promotions. While it helped create an air-tight front office that rarely leaked, it also left areas of weakness, too.
So far, the team has made a handful of executive hires, but they have been Dodgers executives jumping to the Lakers. None of those hires have come on the basketball operations side.
It will be a fascinating insight into how this team is going to operate moving forward. There are only so many familiar faces the team can hire from the Dodgers or promote internally, so they will have to, presumably, bring in people from outside the franchise.
In doing so, we’ll get a better sense of what this new front office will look like and what the Walter era will hold for the team.
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