Rob Pelinka Says Lakers Will Do 'Whatever We Can' to Meet LeBron James' Expectations

Starting the offseason sooner than anticipated, Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka is going to do everything in his power to build a championship roster around LeBron James.

Speaking to reporters Thursday in the aftermath of the Lakers' 103-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of their first-round series, Pelinka said they will do "whatever we can" to meet the roster expectations of the 40-year-old superstar next season.

Pelinka's comment is in response to James saying after Wednesday's season-ending loss that he wasn't sure "what the roster will look like next year besides the guys that [are] locked into contracts" (starts at 4:50 mark).

It is notable that Pelinka was speaking with confidence about James returning to the Lakers. He does have a $52.6 million player option for next season and talked about not knowing how much longer he will keep playing.

There's no indication that James would leave the Lakers if he were to become a free agent this summer. He even alluded to staying in L.A. while speaking to ESPN's Dave McMenamin on Wednesday night.

"Just continuing to play, I don't know where I'm at," James said. "That's what that is. Not coming back to play here. Just playing, period."

It's hard to find anyone who will believe James is going to retire this offseason coming off a terrific 2024-25 campaign, but there are a lot of big decisions facing the Lakers this summer.

In addition to possibly needing to extend James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves are eligible to sign new deals this summer. Dorian Finney-Smith is their highest-profile free agent, not including James.

Per ESPN's Bobby Marks, the Lakers will only have the $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception available, assuming James stays with the team. They will be able to aggregate contracts in trades since they are only into the first tax apron.

Depth and finding a starting center will be the two biggest priorities for Pelinka and the front office. The lack of both really played a huge difference in the series against the Timberwolves.

Jaxson Hayes, who has been the starting center since Anthony Davis was traded, didn't play at all on Wednesday and was on the court for fewer than 10 minutes in each of the first four games.

Head coach JJ Redick didn't trust his bench to the point he played his entire starting five all 24 minutes of the second half in Game 4.

If James is back with the Lakers, the hardest part of the job is done with him and Dončić as their top two players. Reaves really took off down the stretch this season playing alongside that duo.

The Lakers won 50 games this season with a roster that had significant turnover midway through the year and altered everything about how they play. This team could easily be a title contender in 2025-26.