Rob Pelinka spoke to reporters this week for the first time about the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA Trade Deadline.
Understandably, one of the big questions on everyone’s mind was why the Lakers opted not to acquire Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets.
L.A. had been linked to Irving for a long time, and many perceived them as the frontrunners to come away with the polarizing star.
Pelinka broke down specifically why things went the way they did for the Lakers on Feb. 8.
“Doing trades is a lot like the LA house market. You can’t buy houses that aren’t listed,” Pelinka told Greg Beacham of the Associated Press.
“… The last thing you want to do in the house market is overpay or spend all of your time and energy on a house that someone doesn’t want to sell.”
That certainly makes sense, given the Nets’ insane asking price for Irving – particularly from the Lakers.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, by sending Irving to Dallas, the “Nets also succeeded, as one source close to the process put it, in meeting one of the presumed objectives held by team owner Joe Tsai by sending Irving somewhere other than the Lakers — his preferred destination.”
Not only did Brooklyn demand the Lakers’ lone remaining first-rounders in this decade, but also both Austin Reaves and Max Christie, who they knew the front office coveted.
Los Angeles’ final offer to the Nets didn’t come anywhere near that. And thus, he became a Mav.
As far as Pelinka is concerned, though – the Lakers were very tactical during the NBA Trade Deadline.
“If you really study the contracts of these five players, we very intentionally planned these moves to provide optionality in July,” Pelinka told the O.C. Register.
“Some of these players have team options or team-controlled years on their contract, which, again, gives us the ability to see how these last 26 regular-season games and how potential postseason games go.
“And then we can go into this offseason with a higher collection of data points, and sort of a real-time analysis of how the pieces fit and make decisions for the future.”
Regardless of what happened with Irving, the Lakers still had a very successful NBA Trade Deadline. Now the question is who the team will pick up on the buyout market.
Just Jackson being Jackson. The video speaks for itself. https://t.co/1x6z2FRgMC
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 13, 2023
They are currently one of four teams in the hunt for John Wall, and one of two squads lurking for Kevin Love.
Will the Lakers be able to get either one?
One way or another, the answer will reveal itself within the next couple of weeks.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
