Lakers Rumors: GM Rob Pelinka Has 2 Years Left on Contract Signed in 2020

To what's surely the disappointment of many Los Angeles Lakers fans, general manager Rob Pelinka may not be going anywhere.

The Athletic's Bill Oram reported Pelinka has two years remaining on his contract with the team. He got a new deal when the Lakers promoted him to vice president of basketball operations alongside his general manager role in January 2020.

Oram questioned whether Lakers governor Jeanie Buss would take the step of firing Pelinka, "who she views as an extension of Kobe Bryant."

There's plenty of blame to be shared after Los Angeles couldn't even make the play-in tournament and finished 11th in the Western Conference at 33-49. As the key decision-maker in the front office, Pelinka certainly deserves to answer for perhaps the single most disappointing season in franchise history.

"The roster decisions ultimately rest on my shoulders," he told reporters Monday, alluding to the perception that star players wield added influence behind the scenes. "But at the end of the day, I’m the one that leads the basketball operations department and will take ultimate accountability for how the roster decisions are made." 

Beyond the fact Pelinka constructed a significantly flawed roster, there's a growing sense he's simply out of his depth.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Lakers were firing head coach Frank Vogel and described it as "a decision that’s expected to be shared with him as soon as Monday." A functional organization doesn't let that kind of news leak out before the coach has even been told.

That situation might have a tangible cost, too. The Los Angeles Times' Broderick Turner reported Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder may have "become less interested in the Lakers’ job because of how the Vogel firing was handled."

One argument for keeping Pelinka isn't so much a defense of his tenure so far but more a reflection of the franchise's current predicament: Who can do much better right now?

In the short term, the Lakers are pot-committed with Anthony Davis and LeBron James, who will combine to earn $82.5 million next season. Trading Russell Westbrook is unlikely to yield an impact player because of his declining skill set and $47.1 million player option for 2022-23.

Pelinka or another GM could blow it all up and trade Davis and James, but that's antithetical to the Lakers' entire ethos. They move heaven and earth to bring stars to Los Angeles and don't send them away.

Whether Pelinka or somebody else is running the front office, the team's short-term outlook appears to be pretty bleak.