Lakers May Be Heading for Major Front Office Changes

NBA fans should get ready for more rumors related to the Los Angeles Lakers. The team finished the regular season with a disappointing record. Frank Vogel was the first to go. Is Rob Pelinka safe? According to several sources, the Lakers front office may see a lot of changes in the upcoming period.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype talked to NBA execs about the current situation in Los Angeles. They all believe that Jeanie Buss won’t hesitate and make big moves in the future.

“’Frank (Vogel) was definitely the scapegoat,’ the exec told Scotto. ’One more year for that front office, and if the results don’t drastically improve, they could be in line for some more changes’.”

The Lakers fired the head coach despite the fact that he took them to a championship win a couple of seasons ago. Vogel and the Lakers won a title in the middle of a pandemic.

“Vogel was the scapegoat. There’s no question. I don’t think they treated him very well on the way out,” another executive said. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s very well respected in the coaching community. He’ll be able to pick his spot as a high-level assistant if that’s something he wants to do.”

We couldn’t agree more. Vogel is an excellent coach. He had to work with a different group every other night. LeBron James and Anthony Davis were out for a big chunk of the season. Players were injured, tested positive to COVID, etc. We can’t really say it was entirely his fault. Well, the front office in LA wanted to make a change and there was no room for Vogel.

Lakers Rob Pelinka may be part of the front office changes

When it comes to Pelinka, his position is safe. For now. The Lakers gave him a bigger role and an extension. However, fans are far from happy. The Russell Westbrook trade didn’t work. Pelinka didn’t try too hard to keep Alex Caruso around. He even kept Pelinka at the deadline.

The Lakers general manager made a big admission on his mistakes. His team struggled and Pelinka knows it really well.

“The roster decisions ultimately rest on my shoulders,” Pelinka said. “And I will take input from LeBron and Anthony as our two captains. I have done that during my entire tenure. But at the end of the day, I think I’m the one who leads the basketball operations department and will take ultimate accountability for the roster decisions that are made.

“I’m confident that, like we did in 2019 after a year of disappointment, we (will) put our heads together. And I think we’ll spend the next several weeks and months doing an autopsy of what worked well and what didn’t work well this year and come out of that with a clear plan of how to get it right in July.”