Former Lakers scout doesn’t trust Rob Pelinka to build title contender in Luka era

An NBA scout who used to work for the Los Angeles Lakers doesn’t trust Rob Pelinka to build a championship contender in the Luka Doncic era.

The Lakers, who acquired Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks last season, lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 playoffs in five games.

Los Angeles is currently in fifth place in the rugged Western Conference standings with a record of 23-12, but JJ Redick’s group is not considered a legit championship contender despite having Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves because of its putrid defense and lack of perimeter shooters.

“Having worked with Rob before, I just don’t trust him at all to build a team that can win a championship in the Luka era,” the former Lakers scout told Lakers Daily. “They have to find a new basketball exec if they want to win a ring with Luka. I hope Magic [Johnson] has told Mark [Walter] that.

“This year’s roster is so poorly constructed around Luka, LeBron and Austin. It makes my eyes hurt. Rob just doesn’t know how to build a contender. And he’s saving cap space and draft picks for 2026 and 2027 instead of trying to trade for two-ways guys this season when Luka, LeBron and Austin are playing so well? Sounds like the Rob I know.

“The guy says he only trades for difference makers, but he doesn’t know what a difference maker is. If he did, the Lakers would have had Myles [Turner] and Buddy [Hield] next to LeBron and AD (Anthony Davis) in 2023 and probably won the title.”

The Lakers could have traded Russell Westbrook to the Indiana Pacers for Turner and Hield in the summer of 2022 and during the 2022-23 season.

However, Pelinka decided that giving up a 2027 and a 2029 first-round pick for Turner and Hield was too steep a price to pay, Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported back in November of 2022.

After losing to the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers are 21st in the NBA in defensive rating, 16th in points per game allowed, 17th in points per game, 25th in 3-point field goals, 28th in 3-point field goal percentage, last in bench scoring and 16th in net rating.

It will be intriguing to see if Pelinka makes any trades to upgrade the Lakers’ roster this season. It’s evident that the team is not good enough to compete for a title as currently constructed.