The Lakers general manager laid out the three goals he set this summer and why he believes the team hit all of them.
The Los Angeles Lakers reshaped their roster this summer, and general manager Rob Pelinka is confident the moves did what the front office wanted.
At a joint news conference with head coach JJ Redick last week, Pelinka said the team achieved all three of its top offseason goals as it moves on from the LeBron James era and builds around guard Luka Doncic.
The Three Goals Pelinka Set
Pelinka said the plan was to keep guard Austin Reaves, add a franchise center and bring in younger players who can dribble, pass and shoot, and on paper the Lakers checked every box.
Reaves re-signed on a four-year, $184.7 million contract in July, according to ESPN.
The Lakers also landed center Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz, signing him to a four-year, $130 million deal and sending Utah first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 plus pick swaps in 2028 and 2030.
Kessler played only five games last season because of left shoulder surgery, but Pelinka said at the news conference, according to ESPN, that centers like him are hard to find.
"Twenty-five-year-old two-way centers that are retrofitted perfectly for our two max guys in Luka and Austin don't exist," Pelinka said. "There's a scarcity of supply."
He added that when a team has a superstar like Doncic in the building, it has to take that chance.
Redick has praised Kessler as a perfect fit next to Doncic and Reaves.
For depth, Los Angeles signed guard Quentin Grimes to a four-year, $60 million deal, center Sandro Mamukelashvili for four years and $52 million and guard Collin Sexton for two years and $19 million, according to ESPN.
A Younger Team Around Doncic
The biggest change is age, since forward LeBron James left for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, and the Lakers were the NBA's fifth-oldest team last season.
Doncic is 27 and Reaves is 28, while Kessler, Grimes, Mamukelashvili and Sexton are all 27 or younger, and ESPN reported that backup center Kevon Looney is the only player on the roster who is 30 or older.
That lines up the roster with Doncic's timeline, which is the smartest thing this front office did all summer.
Doncic and Reaves already give the Lakers one of the best backcourts in the league, and now they have a young center next to them.
Was It Really a Success?
Mostly, it was.
The Lakers went 53-29 last season, finished fourth in the Western Conference, beat the Houston Rockets in the first round and then got swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.
Pelinka went after the age problem head-on.
The draft picks are the catch.
Giving up two firsts and two swaps for a center who played five games last season is a real risk, and it leaves the Lakers with less room to fix mistakes later.
There is a fair debate about whether the Lakers got better or worse.
Training camp opens on Tuesday, and the Lakers open the regular season at home against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21.
If Kessler stays on the floor, Pelinka will have a strong case, and if he does not, those missing picks will be the first thing people bring up.
