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Luka Doncic is spending the summer in Slovenia with his daughters, Gabriela and Olivia, but sources close to him told ESPN he is in "constant communication" with Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick. Coming off a season in which he led the league in scoring at 33.5 points per game and finished fourth in MVP voting before a Grade 2 left hamstring strain sidelined him for L.A.'s postseason run, Doncic is finally healthy as he begins his offseason training. He was cleared for basketball activities on May 28 -- about 2½ weeks after their series against the Thunder finished, sources close to Doncic told ESPN. "He's in full go mode," one source said.
Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations and general manager, said that the organization wanted to give James the space and time necessary to figure out whatever he plans to do next. Team sources have said that stance has not changed. James’ agent, Rich Paul, told Pat McAfee Friday that he hadn’t even discussed options for next season with James (though he mentioned interest from a third of the league should James decide to continue playing).
Khobi Price: The Lakers announced the official hiring of Rohan Ramadas as assistant general manager of strategy and data systems. He'll oversee basketball analytics and strategic initiatives for basketball operations. Rob Pelinka: “Rohan is an important and strong addition to our front office as we further build out our basketball operations resources. His unique blend of career experiences and analytical expertise will further strengthen the strong work already taking place internally within our data analytics and salary cap management teams.”
Shams Charania: The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring former New Orleans Pelicans vice president of strategy and operations Rohan Ramadas as an assistant general manager under president Rob Pelinka, sources tell me and @mcten. The Lakers have interviewed candidates to bolster their front office.
Whether they’re still looking to fill that role is unclear. Pelinka recently told reporters the team will be hiring a pair of assistant general managers; one focused on personnel, the other on strategy and analytics. “We have started a wide search and begun interviews,” he said. That process is being led by Pelinka and longtime Lakers executive Kurt Rambis. But, according to league sources, Friedman and Zaidi have been involved in the process as well, with at least one of them typically sitting in on interviews.
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Last April, he called Los Angeles Lakers general manager and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, who represented Kobe Bryant for much of his career, and scheduled a lunch. The reason was simple. "The way they think is different," Ndiaye told ESPN. "The way they play, the way they stretch themselves. Just their curiosity. How they study and watch things. They're both very creative on how to solve a problem."
"Basically he wanted to have a physical transformation so he can run forever and use his physical tools to get closer to the basket," Ndiaye said. "And then he wanted to be challenged." Mentally, physically, spiritually. Challenged in every way a supremely conditioned athlete who already pushes himself harder than most humans can be challenged. Pelinka listened while Ndiaye talked. He knew the type.
Brendan Haywood: "I tell you another thing in Miami that was a microaggression that Pat Riley did. LeBron, I didn't realize it at the time until I played with LeBron in Cleveland. I was like, oh, that's what happened. LeBron wanted Rich Paul, Maverick, Randy, and Lynn Merritt. He wanted their season tickets to be right beside the Heat bench. Oh, yeah. And you remember where were their tickets? They were right beside the bench, but it was the other team's bench. See, these are the little petty things that go on and little things become big things. Pat Riley was like, nah, we don't want you to have your crew right beside the bench that you can talk to. He could have put them anywhere, but he's going to be a funny guy. So he puts them all the way at the other. They used to sit beside our bench. I always thought that was weird in real time and then when I got to talk to LeBron and Mike Miller and all those guys, I realized, oh, Pat Riley was taking a microaggression. That is just my example to show you that these type of little things happen all the time. And LeBron James felt like Pat Riley took a shot, and I guarantee you he felt Rob Pelinka took a shot by not giving that game ball to him."
Dave McMenamin: I think, based on what we saw in 2024, LeBron would be open to discussing where his number lies, so long as the money that’s left on the table is earmarked for talent that can come and affect winning. That is incumbent upon Rob Pelinka and whomever else he’s working with in the front office between now and whenever that conversation happens with Rich Paul, to line up. That’s what the job is.
But LeBron James, who played the past eight seasons in Los Angeles and helped deliver the franchise its 17th championship in 2020, saw Pelinka's priority in that moment as yet another example of the Lakers taking him for granted, sources said. Adding to James' ire, sources said, was the fact that the past dozen or so wins in that stretch came with James willingly taking a supporting offensive role behind Doncic and Austin Reaves.
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The win was the 1,229th of James' career and moved him past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most victories by any player in NBA history (combined regular season and playoffs). Not to mention, it came on a night when Luka Doncic topped 15,000 career points and Rui Hachimura reached 5,000. Still, James' celebratory mood didn't last long. Lakers coach JJ Redick had announced all the individual accomplishments in the postgame locker room, eliciting a cascading round of applause by L.A. players and assistant coaches. And then Rob Pelinka, the Lakers' president of basketball operations and general manager, addressed the team. He had the game ball in his hands. Rather than hand it to Hachimura or Doncic or James, Pelinka walked to the front of the room and presented the ball to Redick, who had just presided over his 100th coaching win.
A source familiar with LeBron James' thinking told ESPN that the Lakers' approach in how they show their interest in retaining him will be a factor, beyond the simple dollar amount. "The Lakers can't just offer James a number. They have to offer a why behind that number," an agent who does not rep James but has had clients on L.A.'s roster during James' tenure, told ESPN. "Their plan for any discount would have to be coherent."
He missed all of training camp, the preseason and the first 14 games of the regular season, later admitting that the injury prompted to "question yourself at times if you feel like you're going to be able to get back to what you know you can do, and do at this level." Team sources told ESPN that it was clear the injury weighed on James and his demeanor. Even so, whatever rancor that James' side might have felt, a source familiar with the Lakers' thinking told ESPN their relationship with James was mostly "harmonious." Even James' sometimes dour mood at the start of the season as he rehabbed was understood by the source as "the evolution" of an athlete acutely facing his basketball mortality for the first time.
Dave McMenamin: Rob Pelinka says the Lakers want to "honor" LeBron James by giving him the time to make a decision on his future, but want him back if he wants to come back. He says the team also wants Austin Reaves to return and have expressed that sentiment to Reaves' representatives.