Lakers GM Rob Pelinka Explains Trade Process to Improve Roster Around LeBron James

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka confirmed Monday that he is willing to trade multiple draft picks in order to improve the roster around LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Co.

Speaking at media day (h/t Scott Rafferty of Sporting News), Pelinka said the following about his philosophy:

"Let me abundantly clear: We have one of the great players in LeBron James to ever play the game on our team. He committed to us with a long-term contract, a three-year contract. So of course we will do everything we can, picks included, to make deals that give us a chance to help LeBron get to the end. He committed to our organization. That's got to be a bilateral commitment, and it's there."

Pelinka referenced the fact that James signed a two-year extension with the Lakers in August, meaning he is under contract through at least 2024, and potentially through 2025 if he exercises his player option.

Given that James will turn 38 years old in December, Pelinka perhaps has a limited timeline to build another championship-contending team around LeBron.

While the Lakers won a championship in 2020 with James and Davis leading the way, the past two years have been a disappointment.

L.A. made it into the playoffs in 2021 through the Western Conference play-in tournament, but the No. 7 seed was eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in the first round. Last season was even worse, as the Lakers struggled to a 33-49 record and missed the playoffs amid James and Davis both missing significant time because of injuries.

It was clear that the Lakers needed to shake things up during the offseason, but doing so was difficult because of veteran guard Russell Westbrook opting into the final year of his contract and tying up a ton of salary.

The Lakers made a coaching change by firing Frank Vogel and replacing him with Darvin Ham, but most of their roster moves have been focused on role players.

Los Angeles traded Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz for veteran guard Patrick Beverley, plus they signed a host of depth players, including Dennis Schroder, Lonnie Walker IV, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Thomas Bryant, Damian Jones and Troy Brown Jr.

Any team with a healthy James and Davis has a chance to make a deep run, but the current Lakers roster likely isn't any better equipped to cope with one or both of them getting injured than last season's team was.

If the Lakers are going to swing a trade at some point during the season, they'll likely need to get creative with salaries in order to make it work. They'll also have to find a team willing to take draft picks well into the future.

L.A. has its own first-round pick in 2023, although the New Orleans Pelicans could opt to swap picks with them. The Pelicans own the Lakers' 2024 first-round pick unless they decide to defer to 2025.

The next Lakers first-round pick without any conditions isn't until 2026, which is likely why finding a trade fit and partner has been tricky thus far.

Pelinka noted that he only has "one shot to make a trade with multiple picks" and needs to make that count, which may be another reason why he is being selective.

Draft picks are essentially the only currency of value that Pelinka has to bargain with on the trade market, and his comments suggest he is more than willing to part with some if he believes it will get the Lakers closer to championship contention.