With the Los Angeles Lakers now officially being owned by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, many are anticipating changes to be implemented within the organization and front office. The Dodgers have become the best organization in baseball since Walter took over as owner and the Lakers are undoubtedly hoping the same occurs and they move back to the top of the NBA.
Of course, since the sale to Walter occurred in the middle of the season, there won’t be many significant changes made immediately, but in the offseason that is expected to shift. Walter’s influence will begin taking shape, but that will all still take place under the direction of Lakers governor Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka.
Pelinka recently spoke about this, saying that when these structural changes begin to be implemented this offseason, it will be him and Jeanie leading the way, along with the support of Walter, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
Beyond stating that one of those expected changes will be hoping to mimic the Dodgers’ draft process and farm system structure, Pelinka made it clear what the Lakers’ power structure will be when implementing those changes.
“Led by myself and Jeanie,” he said, “and with Mark’s support.”
It is already known that Buss will continue to serve as Lakers governor for the next five years and she and Pelinka have been in lock step for many years now. Even with Walter now owning the Lakers, it looks as if Pelinka will continue to be right alongside Buss as the franchise moves into this next era.
Walter has experienced a ton of success with the Dodgers and plans on implementing a lot of the same systems and values into the Lakers. Everything can’t be replicated as the rules in the NBA are very different from the MLB, but the Lakers are already consulting with members of the Dodgers, such as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, and the franchise is expected to build out their front office staff this offseason.
The end goal is to get the Lakers back to the top of the NBA mountain and Buss and Pelinka will continue to lead that charge under the guise of Walter, who has experienced nothing but success with the Dodgers and plans to continue that with the Lakers.
Rob Pelinka details conversations with Mark Walter on modeling Lakers after Dodgers
Rob Pelinka also spoke on the conversations he’s had with owner Mark Walter about modeling the Lakers organizationally after the Dodgers.
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