The 2020-21 NBA season is quickly approaching and with the Draft in the rearview mirror, teams were able to turn their full attention to free agency.
The Los Angeles Lakers did not make a draft pick as they sent their No. 28 selection and Danny Green to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Dennis Schroder. However, they did reportedly agree to a deal with undrafted free agent Zavier Simpson.
With the upcoming season slated to tipoff on Dec. 22, general manager Rob Pelinka faced little time to sort out the roster. Despite this, Pelinka explained that planning for these next couple of weeks has been in the works for months.
“If you look back over the last two or three seasons, we’ve really wanted to stay somewhat consistent and methodical in our approach and get locked in on the work,” he said. “I think it would be really easy to fall into the trap of being reactionary when you have a condensed set of dates, but our preparation for this period of time started months ago.
“There’s been a lot of planning and thought around it, so it was really more waiting for the NBA dates to finally get released. I don’t think just because it’s a condensed time or it’s coming faster than some people expected, means that we’re not prepared for the moment.
“I think we’ll just stay kind of methodical in our approach of trying to get better. Our ultimate goal for the 2020-21 season is of course to defend the title. We want to put in the work to optimize our goal and be in that position.”
As evidenced by last summer, Pelinka has demonstrated that he and the Lakers front office are well-prepared with options and pivots should free agency break any which way. Sure enough, that unfolded once again with the Lakers getting younger and arguably improving as well.
Lakers make splash in free agency
The Lakers started the process of retooling their roster by reportedly agreeing to a one-year contract with Wesley Matthews. Then after Dwight Howard reached a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, L.A. reached terms with Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell on a two-year contract.
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