Rumors are flying everywhere around the Los Angeles Lakers right now as the entire front office has been shaken up. With Magic Johnson taking over as president of basketball operations, and Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak both gone, there are a lot of questions as to who will be brought in moving forward.
Kobe Bryant’s agent Rob Pelinka has emerged as the front-runner to become the Lakers’ next general manager, but he wasn’t the team’s first choice. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the Lakers originally targeted Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers for the role:
“Before the Lakers fired Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss on Tuesday, the franchise had already moved away from trying to pursue the Golden State Warriors’ Bob Myers, the franchise’s original top target for general manager, league sources told The Vertical.
After Myers signed a recent contract extension, it became clear to Lakers brass that it would be unable to lure Myers, league sources said.”
The Lakers’ interest in Myers makes complete sense considering all he has done to build up the Warriors over the past few years. Completing deals for the likes of Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala and helping the Warriors to become the best team in the NBA over the last couple of years, Myers is viewed very highly.
Much like Pelinka, Myers is a former agent, so the Lakers seem to have an idea of the type of person they are looking towards in regards to being the next GM. In his interview on Spectrum SportsNet, Magic said he wanted someone who knows the CBA and has relationships with players. Pelinka certainly fits that bill.
There will be a lot of rumors surrounding the Lakers until the team makes a hiring official. Until that time all anyone can do is wait and see.
