New Lakers Rumors Reveal How Ownership Situation Has Affected Planned Front Office Changes

The recent changes in the Los Angeles Lakers' ownership could impact how the team goes about filling its front office.

According to The Athletic's Dan Woike, the Lakers "cannot complete the buildout of its basketball operations department until the ownership situation is resolved," meaning two planned assistant general managers won't be hired until the dust has settled on the ownership saga.

According to Woike, one of the assistant general managers, the team planned to hire would focus on analytics while the other would focus on player scouting. Given how late into the offseason the sale of the team comes, Los Angeles might have to put that plan on the back burner.

The report from Woike comes a week after Mark Walter sold the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner at a historic $12.5 billion valuation. On Monday, it was reported that Iger and Kushner planned to purchase the remaining 17.8 ownership stake from the Buss family.

While it seemed at first that the Buss family would move on from the Lakers after nearly five decades in control, CNBC's Alex Sherman reported that Jeanie Buss did not vote for the sale of the team, unlike her five siblings.

"No sale of the JAB Trust's 17.8% ownership interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. can be effectuated without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss," Buss' lawyer wrote in a letter to her siblings' lawyer. "Pursuant to the JAB Trust and the attached Court Order, the co-trustees are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain Controlling Owner."

Buss is currently the team's governor but would be out of that role if the sale of her family's stake goes through.

Buss' opposition to the sale could set up a long legal battle that would throw a wrench in the new owners' plans for the team, though it's worth noting that Iger told Khobi Price of the California Post last week he had no plans to make any major changes.

"It's just premature to speculate at all about what we plan to do, because frankly, we haven't made any plans yet," Iger said.