NBA GM Reportedly Asked If Rob Pelinka Is 'Trying to Get Fired' After Seeing Lakers' FA Contracts

Despite a busy week of moves for the Los Angeles Lakers and general manager Rob Pelinka to kick off free agency, not everyone in the NBA is impressed with what they have done for their roster.

On the latest episode of The Hoop Collective Podcast (starts at 25:45 mark), ESPN's Vincent Goodwill explained one rival GM asked if Pelinka was "trying to get fired" in the wake of the Lakers' moves.

The Lakers have handed out $446 million in contracts to sign Walker Kessler, Austin Reaves, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton.

Kessler's addition was the biggest surprise from that group because of the cost in both money and draft picks the Lakers gave up in a sign-and-trade deal with the Utah Jazz.

The 24-year-old center will sign a four-year, $130 million contract to play for Los Angeles, while Utah gets back unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 plus first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030.

It's a huge bet by the Lakers on Kessler, who will become one of the 10 highest-paid centers by both total value and average annual salary. He has only played 63 games over the past two seasons and never averaged more than 11.1 points per game in a season in which he played more than 10 games.

There are two reasons for the Lakers to make this gamble. The first one is Kessler has already shown the ability to be a tremendous rim protector in his short NBA career thus far.

The second — and probably more important — reason is Kessler was reportedly the player Luka Dončić wanted to play with more than anyone among this crop of free agents.

Dončić has the Lakers on a bit of a clock since he can opt out of his contract after the 2027-28 season, so they might need to act overaggressively with the hope of building a title contender.

It's almost certain Pelinka did not make the move trying to get fired, but that's a lot of financial investment in five players with a combined zero All-Star appearances between them.

On top of that, the Lakers now don't control their first-round pick until 2032. They are essentially committed to this core for the next two years before Dončić's contract decision comes into play.

If Kessler hits in the way the Lakers are expecting, it could be a game-changer for them in the Western Conference hierarchy. If it doesn't work and he continues to be plagued by injuries, their long-term future will look incredibly murky.