Lakers' Rob Pelinka Not 'Satisfied' After Getting Swept by Thunder in 2nd Round of NBA Playoffs

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka says he isn't "satisfied" with a season that ended with a sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the 2026 NBA playoffs.

"A lot to be proud of, in terms of back-to-back 50-win seasons, but certainly nothing that we're satisfied about," Pelinka said during Tuesday's end-of-season press conference. "This is a market with championship expectations."

Those title hopes ended for the Lakers, who were missing leading scorer Luka Dončić for the entirety of the playoffs, with Monday's Game 4 loss to the visiting Thunder.

Pelinka said he didn't consider not having Austin Reaves for most of the first round or Dončić's postseason-long absence an "excuse" for the Lakers losing in the second round.

LeBron James helped lead the Lakers to a six-game first-round victory over the Houston Rockets, but was unable to produce enough to make up for the depth of the Thunder roster in the conference semifinals.

"I think we all know the playoffs are about matchups, and about roster fullness... having a less than full roster is never an excuse in this business," Pelinka said. "It's just a circumstance, in this case an adverse circumstance, that came our way."

Pelinka indicated, however, he felt the results of the second round might have been different had the Lakers been able to field players like Dončić against the Thunder.

"There were moments in every game where you could see the competitive nature of this group, and think to what it might have been if we had a full roster," Pelinka said.

Dončić led the NBA by averaging 33.5 points through 64 regular-season games before suffering the hamstring injury that sidelined him for the postseason.

That production might have made a difference especially in the Lakers' closest loss of the series in Game 4, which ended after Austin Reaves missed a chance at a game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds.

The Lakers will now be tasked this offseason with deciding how to retool around Dončić going forward. Pelinka said Tuesday the Lakers want both James, a pending free agent, and Reaves, who is expected to decline his $14.9 million player option for next season, to return should they be interested in re-signing with the franchise.