While most agree that the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t quite a championship-caliber team right now, they aren’t exactly far away from becoming one. They have an outstanding foundation right now with Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves, as well as some nice complementary players such as center Deandre Ayton, guard Marcus Smart and forwards Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia.
When the Lakers landed Doncic in that tectonic trade last February, it was acknowledged that it would take a little while for them to build a true contender around him. But plenty of fans don’t have faith that executive Rob Pelinka will successfully do so, given some bad and questionable decisions that he has made in recent years.
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One former Lakers scout has exactly that type of skepticism about Pelinka’s ability to bring in the final pieces that would deliver an NBA championship to the franchise.
Via Lakers Daily:
“Having worked with Rob before, I just don’t trust him at all to build a team that can win a championship in the Luka era,” the former Lakers scout told Lakers Daily. “They have to find a new basketball exec if they want to win a ring with Luka. I hope Magic [Johnson] has told Mark [Walter] that.
“This year’s roster is so poorly constructed around Luka, LeBron and Austin. It makes my eyes hurt. Rob just doesn’t know how to build a contender. And he’s saving cap space and draft picks for 2026 and 2027 instead of trying to trade for two-ways guys this season when Luka, LeBron and Austin are playing so well? Sounds like the Rob I know.
“The guy says he only trades for difference makers, but he doesn’t know what a difference maker is. If he did, the Lakers would have had Myles [Turner] and Buddy [Hield] next to LeBron and AD (Anthony Davis) in 2023 and probably won the title.”
The potential deal that could’ve sent Turner and Hield to L.A. would’ve cost Russell Westbrook and two future first-round draft picks. It is debatable whether that deal would’ve put the team over the top three seasons ago, but had it done that trade and then landed Doncic, who cost it another future first-rounder, it would’ve had no more future first-round picks to offer this season in another potential trade.
Right now, the Lakers have a 23-13 record and are clinging to fifth place in the Western Conference. Their 107-91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday resulted in them now being three full games behind the Spurs, who are in second place.
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The consensus is that L.A. needs more perimeter defense, 3-point shooting and overall team speed and athleticism to take the next step. It also has a glaring lack of scoring off the bench. However, it doesn’t have ample tradable assets right now, unless it decides to make Reaves available in trade talks, which seems extremely unlikely.
The NBA’s trade deadline is Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. New York time.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Former Lakers scout: ‘I just don’t trust’ Rob Pelinka