LA LAKERS

Back in 2007 I was living in a building in Hancock Park, and my neighbor was an NBA agent who split his time between NYC and LA. We wasn't a major player, but he represented several players and coaches - including a couple Lakers assistant coaches at the time. During the whole Kevin Garnett saga in which he eventually was traded from the Wolves to the Celtics, I asked him if the Lakers had a shot at getting him. He told me that there was no way that Garnett would agree to come to LA because Jim Buss was running the show. He said that the under Jim's leadership the franchise was completely dysfunctional, and that players and agents around the league hated him and basically wanted to avoid dealing with him if they didn't have to.

Obviously this was some time ago, but there's not much evidence that anything has changed in the past decade. As soon as Saint Buss passed on to Lakers Heaven we weren't even able to re-sign Dwight Howard - which was a blessing in disguise, but utterly embarrassing at the time. Obviously I don't have any special insight into what was happening in the organization after 2007 (aside from PJ, MDA drama – but I'll not get into that), but the mismanagement of the franchise by Jim Buss is clearly evident - disastrous free-agent recruitment, poor personnel moves, general lack of vision and a lack of understanding of the new NBA, etc. If Jim Buss was really as unpopular as the agent told me he was, then it's not surprising that we haven't been able to land any marquee free agents or even second-tier free-agents. I mean, last summer we couldn't even get a meeting with Hassan Whiteside, and Kent Bazemore accepted less money to play in Atlanta (the fucking Atlanta Hawks!!!) rather than come back to us.

Fast forward to yesterday, and suddenly Jim and Mitch (RIP, brave warrior) are replaced with Magic and Pelinka. It's really hard for me to imagine us bringing in more player-friendly management.

Yes, if Magic's Twitter is to be believed he has some issues with player evaluation, but he's built a pretty impressive business empire since retiring because he knows how to delegate and surround himself with the right people. He’s not a business genius, but he surrounds himself with and listens to people who are. It would be out of character for Magic to not act on the recommendations of the people he's surrounded himself with. I don't see any indication that Magic will do anything but trust Ryan West, the younger Buss kids, Pelinka and the rest of our fantastic player development staff to give him good recommendations to act on. Magic built his basketball and business careers by being the ultimate team player, and I see no reason why that would change now.

Pelinka, on the other hand, is a former Fab Five guy who commands incredible respect from players, agents and front offices around the NBA. Top agents are immersed in the business of basketball, as well as talent evaluation and development. I would be willing to bet he knows basketball and the business of basketball better than a good number of the GMs in the league right now, and the man knows how to structure a deal and spot talent. He knows what makes LA an attractive place for free-agents, and what doesn't. He's an inspired choice for GM.

For now on when we meet with top free-agents we'll be greeting them with the one of the most iconic, charismatic and decorated NBA legends ever to play, a highly respected former agent who knows what players are looking for in a team, and a young up and coming players-coach who is widely admired by everyone who comes into contact with him.

Obviously this team has a tall task ahead of them. Just being a championship contender has never been good enough for this franchise - we win it all or fail - but I think we have the front office and coaching staff in place to take us back to the very top of the NBA where we belong.