The Los Angeles Lakers have promoted general manager Rob Pelinka to vice president of basketball operations while additionally agreeing to extend his contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.
The commitment to the former player agent comes on the heels of a successful run throughout which Pelinka played a major role in transforming the Lakers from a rebuilding young organization to a legitimate, established title contender.
Pelinka initially signed on with the Lakers as general manager to serve under then-vice president of basketball operations Magic Johnson. Pelinka and Johnson cleared the way for the team’s 2018 free agent addition of LeBron James.
It was in the past year, however, that Pelinka helped to take the organization to the next level. Pelinka managed the franchise through Johnson’s surprising resignation last April and eventually went on to complete the much anticipated but previously inaccessible Anthony Davis trade.
While the Lakers organization has publicly announced the promotion, the terms of the extension were not disclosed. Pelinka’s previous five-year deal would have expired in 2022.
