Lakers News: Rob Pelinka Discusses Dennis Schroder Trade, Kyle Kuzma and More
To say that the Rob Pelinka era as general manager for the Los Angeles Lakers is off to an amazing start would be an understatement.
After being thrust into the big job after Magic Johnson's abrupt exit at the tail end of last season, Pelinka has made all the right moves, including pulling off the blockbuster trade that landed Anthony Davis.
And in just his first full year running the show, the former superstar agent to the late Kobe Bryant has delivered the Lakers organization its 17th championship, it's first in 10 years.
But now it's time to run it back and try for number 18.
That's the job, though. Winning the 2020 NBA title was great and cathartic for this team after the tragic loss of Bryant, but now, they have to focus on how to defend it.
Ultimately, that means that Pelinka has to get back to his virtual chess board and try to pull off another Queen's Gambit.
Can he do it again? Everyone will know the answer soon enough.
Pelinka Describes the Schröder Acquisition
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When it comes to making trade deals in the NBA, timing is everything.
For the Lakers, that meant jumping into the fray right before the draft to shore up their playmaking ability.
So on draft night, the trade for Dennis Schröder became official.
In the deal, L.A. sent Danny Green and the No. 28 pick (Jaden McDaniels) to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for a guard that LeBron James referred to as a 'flat out dog."
"We’re really excited about adding Dennis to our core,” Pelinka told Mike Trudell of NBA.com. "I think if you look at the Bubble and what we were able to accomplish there in retrospect, one of the core identities of our team is I felt like we played incredibly tough, competitive, gritty, defensive-focused basketball. That’s really at the core of how Dennis plays.
"He gives us offensively another elite playmaker, both on the ball in a pick-and-roll situation and off the ball as a scorer. He really just fits us perfectly. He’s been a player we’ve pursued not just in this trade deadline but before, we pursued him aggressively. But to finalize a transaction and bring him to the Lakers is satisfying."
Schröder is a need due to the uncertainty surrounding Rajon Rondo's free agency. Avery Bradley is also an unknown after opting out of the final year of his contract to seek a long-term deal.
James is excited to have Schröder on board because he's wanted to play with him for a while, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
"They almost traded for him at the deadline in 2020 and they didn’t," Windhorst said on the Lowe Post podcast. "There’s been a lot of interest there for a while.
"The Lakers have wanted for a while to get–and I know they’re very different players–but Rob Pelinka has been very interested in Dennis Schroder and very interested in Derrick Rose. LeBron really likes his (Schroder’s) game. LeBron’s wanted to play with him for a while. Like I said, they almost traded for him before."
L.A.'s interest in the former No. 17 pick in the 2013 draft is understandable, especially considering the year he just had.
He came in second in the voting for Sixth Man of the Year behind Montrezl Harrell after averaging 18.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game for OKC.
The German-born point guard also connected on a career-high 38.5 percent of his three-pointers, which is an asset the Lakers will need with the departure of Green.
"It’s hard to lose a player like Danny, he was an ultimate professional and really filled a great role for us and played well," Pelinka said. "But overall, we feel like this addition of a younger player to our core and for the future was something we couldn’t pass up.
"Dennis is a player that other teams hate to play against, but his teammates love to play with, because he has that kind of nasty tenacity and grit, and that’s really at the center of how we play and how we win. He really folds in perfectly to that."
Getting the chance to play for a strong contender must be appealing to Schröder, who was quick to respond to James' welcome Instagram message with one of his won.
"Let's get it Brodie," he wrote.
Lakers Proud of Drafting Kuzma
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Lakers' fans expect excellence.
They cheer when a player is playing well and they jeer when players aren't.
Kyle Kuzma has been on the receiving end of both of those realities, especially this season.
All of his numbers are down after his promising sophomore campaign. He went from a stat line of 18.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game to 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
To be fair, the dip in production can be blamed on his diminished role. Last year, he started 68 games. This year, he been coming off the bench in all appearances except nine.
Still, the expectations were that he would be making the leap to the next level and that hasn't happened, yet.
That will likely be on Pelinka's mind as he contemplates what the team should do in terms of their long-term plans for Kuzma, who is eligible for an extension.
"When the time is right, we'll sit down and speak with them," Pelinka told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "But we're proud of drafting Kuz. We're incredibly proud of his growth as a player. I think he showed in the bubble his ability to play at the wing and the 4 -- so some 3 and some 4 -- and when you lose a defender and a wing player like Danny Green, I think Kyle, we're going to count on him to step in and play some of that wing role as well. But he has the versatility to do it.
"So he's been a great, great player for us and I would expect that he will continue to grow next season."
Reading between the lines, that sounds like L.A. will keep its options open regarding the former Utah standout.
His name has been mentioned in rumored trade deals and that trend will likely continue, but unless the Lakers can get another great player in exchange, they'll bring Kuzma back to see if he can finally put it all together.
Lakers Wil Be Aggressive in Free Agency
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In poker, even when a player has what looks like a winning hand, sometimes, it's best to get a new card or two to make sure it holds up.
That's where the Lakers find themselves this offseason.
Sure, they won the 2020 NBA championship in the bubble, but in order to run it back, they've got to make sure they keep their core group together, while also making improvements where they can.
"Our approach will be to be aggressive," Pelinka told ESPN's Dave McMenamin about the team's free agency plans. "I think there's a handful of teams that probably hope to contend or be in a position to contend. We're not going to just sit back and not expect others who are in position to try to better their roster or better their teams.
"So we have to stay aggressive. I think the danger of winning is complacency, and I won't -- we won't allow that to creep in here. We're going to try to improve our team and put Coach [Frank] Vogel and his staff in the best possible position to defend."
To that end, the team has to make some tough decisions, one of them being letting fan favorite Quinn Cook go.
The team informed the reserve point guard that they were releasing him on Thursday, per The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Cook, who played in 44 games for L.A. this past season and averaged 5.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, was on a non-guaranteed contract for 2020-21.
The move to waive him will free up cap space as the Lakers look to continue to navigate free agency.
While the news was no doubt a downer for Cook, he will still receive $1 million from his contract on his way out.
He also got a shout out from James, who retweeted a congratulatory message from the team thanking Cook and Green for helping them win the title.
"Would NOT have won that [trophy] without them both! Thank you and love! By the way I’ll see y’all in person soon anyways. Lol," he wrote.
With Cook and Green now gone, Pelinka will look at whether or not the team will work to keep Rondo and/or Bradley, or look at shuffling the deck again.
"At the fundamental focus, we’d like to keep as much of our core players together to repeat as possible,” Pelinka said. "Continuity is incredibly important. One of our strongpoints in the Bubble was just part of the mental grind and challenges of playing away from family and friends was how we operated together.
"I think the team that came out of the Bubble with a trophy, in addition to having the right talent, also had the right chemistry to survive the Lord of the Flies experiences in the Bubble. We don’t take that lightly. This was a group of guys that fit, that worked together … but if there are opportunities to get better and to address needs like with Dennis, we’ll take advantage of those."
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