Originally published by LakersNation.com
This was an extremely busy offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers. The biggest news came when LeBron James announced that he would be continuing his playing career elsewhere, eventually choosing to join the Philadelphia 76ers. But following that news, the Lakers moved quickly to re-shape the roster around superstar Luka Doncic.
Once it became clear that James would not be returning, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office moved towards accomplishing three primary goals this offseason, and he feels they did just that.
“Once we got the news from LeBron and Rich that he was going to choose a different organization, we built a thesis for what we wanted this team to be heading into this season; JJ and I together,” Pelinka said during his press conference. “And there were three fundamental pillars of what we wanted to accomplish in the offseason. We wanted to retain Austin Reaves; that was a really big thing for us. We wanted to find a way to acquire a franchise center, and then we wanted to develop a roster of JJ Redick dribble-pass-shoot players that were younger and add depth to our roster. That was sort of our three-prong thesis basketball-wise for the offseason, and we felt like we accomplished all those things.
“Re-signing Austin, putting together a trade to acquire Walker Kessler, and then building out our team with young players that could dribble-pass-shoot, and have brought the average age of our roster to around 26 or 27, which lines up so perfectly with building a team around Luka Doncic.”
Bringing back Reaves was massive as he and Doncic formed the highest-scoring duo in the NBA last season and have become close friends as well. He ensures the Lakers have that secondary creator while the addition of Kessler gives the Lakers that franchise center that can be a defensive anchor while also being an ideal pick-and-roll partner for Doncic and Reaves.
Getting younger, versatile players was also accomplished with Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jaden Hardy amongst the many offseason additions that Pelinka and the Lakers believe will perfectly fit next to Doncic, and hopefully bring this team to the next level, even after losing such a vital member of the organization in James.
Rob Pelinka ‘grateful’ for LeBron James era with Lakers
Before he got into the Lakers’ new roster, Pelinka took time to praise James for all that he did for this franchise, saying he was grateful for the LeBron James era.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
This was an extremely busy offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers. The biggest news came when LeBron James announced that he would be continuing his playing career elsewhere, eventually choosing to join the Philadelphia 76ers. But following that news, the Lakers moved quickly to re-shape the roster around superstar Luka Doncic.
Once it became clear that James would not be returning, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office moved towards accomplishing three primary goals this offseason, and he feels they did just that.
“Once we got the news from LeBron and Rich that he was going to choose a different organization, we built a thesis for what we wanted this team to be heading into this season; JJ and I together,” Pelinka said during his press conference. “And there were three fundamental pillars of what we wanted to accomplish in the offseason. We wanted to retain Austin Reaves; that was a really big thing for us. We wanted to find a way to acquire a franchise center, and then we wanted to develop a roster of JJ Redick dribble-pass-shoot players that were younger and add depth to our roster. That was sort of our three-prong thesis basketball-wise for the offseason, and we felt like we accomplished all those things.
“Re-signing Austin, putting together a trade to acquire Walker Kessler, and then building out our team with young players that could dribble-pass-shoot, and have brought the average age of our roster to around 26 or 27, which lines up so perfectly with building a team around Luka Doncic.”
Bringing back Reaves was massive as he and Doncic formed the highest-scoring duo in the NBA last season and have become close friends as well. He ensures the Lakers have that secondary creator while the addition of Kessler gives the Lakers that franchise center that can be a defensive anchor while also being an ideal pick-and-roll partner for Doncic and Reaves.
Getting younger, versatile players was also accomplished with Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jaden Hardy amongst the many offseason additions that Pelinka and the Lakers believe will perfectly fit next to Doncic, and hopefully bring this team to the next level, even after losing such a vital member of the organization in James.
Rob Pelinka ‘grateful’ for LeBron James era with Lakers
Before he got into the Lakers’ new roster, Pelinka took time to praise James for all that he did for this franchise, saying he was grateful for the LeBron James era.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
