LOS ANGELES — When scanning through the Lakers’ season during the team’s end-of-season press conference a little over a week ago, Rob Pelinka highlighted an opposing player who was partially to blame for the Lakers’ second-round playoff exit.
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The franchise’s president of basketball operations and general manager, one of the key figures in the Lakers’ front office since 2017, singled out Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell.
The former second-round draft pick played at UC Santa Barbara – the Big West Conference Player of the Year in 2023-24 – outplayed his two-way contract status into a rotational role on the defending champion Thunder. Against the Lakers, Mitchell averaged 22.5 points per game in Oklahoma City’s four victories – almost 10 more points than the 13.6 he averaged during the regular season.
In Game 4 last Monday, Mitchell recorded a career-high – in the regular season or playoffs – 28 points to help eliminate the fourth-seeded Lakers and close the doors on their season. Mitchell is one of the Thunder’s many scouting and development marvels.
“There’s ways to add to your roster if you commit to doing the hard work and commit to the process of adding the right pieces,” Pelinka said after referencing Mitchell. “We’ll be doing that through the draft and free agency and through trades. We’ve got to find a way to have a roster that will compete with any team in the NBA.”
Pelinka made it clear that the Lakers are already all in on the NBA draft process, ready to spend the weeks ahead bringing in 20-plus players for in-person workouts, he said, for the 25th selection in the June 23 draft. He referred to the north stars of the franchise that the Lakers “need to look at” as depth, athleticism and youth – some of which he said he believed was already on the roster. Additionally, the Lakers are hiring two assistant GMs, Pelinka shared during his end-of-season press conference.
The Thunder, unabashedly, have all three components on their team. When asked about the depth that Oklahoma City has and what his preferred level of depth for the Lakers going forward would be, Lakers coach JJ Redick said that winning – especially to Oklahoma City or San Antonio’s standards – often comes down to spots 10 through 15 on the team.
“You look at OKC’s roster, you look at San Antonio’s roster, they have 13 high-level rotation players minimum,” Redick said. “And that’s a luxury to have in the NBA and it’s one of the reasons why those teams are really good.”
Pelinka said they want the Lakers to line up with Redick’s vision for the roster, which the front office boss said included highly competitive, basketball IQ-based and team-first players.
“Continuing to find young players and develop the mindset is the first thing,” Pelinka said. “Getting the right players with the right mindset and then developing the basketball side.”
Pelinka said that in the “salary cap system,” player development is going to be a priority to lean in to in order for teams to have success. When it comes to player development, it’s hard not to look at what Pelinka called their “brother-sister” organization: the Dodgers.
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“We have to continue to find young talent and develop them in terms of the resources that (Lakers governor) Jeanie (Buss) and (controlling owner) Mark (Walter) are providing for us, that’s an area that they really want us to grow,” Pelinka said. “We see that, of course, with our brother-sister organization, with the Dodgers, they’ve invested a lot in player development and have done it so well.”
Pelinka pointed to Redick’s trust in rookie Adou Thiero – the team’s second-round selection in the 2025 draft – during the playoffs as proof of the team’s ongoing player development with youth.
Thiero moved from what Redick had previously called a “developmental” season to appearing in rotational minutes against the Thunder. The Arkansas product played 13 minutes in Game 3 and grabbed eight rebounds; five of which were on the offensive glass. Thiero said he’d “most likely” play in the NBA Summer League in July, considering he didn’t play before his rookie season began because of a left knee injury.
“Just being out there, seeing how teams were playing me,” Thiero said, after the Lakers’ elimination, of what he’d take from his playoff experience. “(Learning) what reads I’ll have to make, the offense we run and everything and just picking that up and seeing where I could be better at. Now, I can go into the offseason and (know) what I gotta work on.”
Second-year guard Bronny James also relished his playoff experience, playing during the first-round series against the Houston Rockets – in a testament to the increased playing time he saw in the latter half of the Lakers’ season – considering what he brought up was his first taste of win-or-go-home games after not playing in March Madness at USC during his only college season.
James, the eldest son of Lakers star LeBron James, said he enjoyed his second season in the NBA.
“That I can play at a higher level,” James said of what he learned in Year 2. “That’s what I’ve wanted for the last couple of years. And I was able to do that this year more than I was last year, so yeah, it was a good year for me, and I felt good about it.”
Pelinka and the Lakers are building out their front office, and the franchise is evolving on the business side. But when it comes to player development, Pelinka said, he wants to give Redick and Co. the tools to craft their game plan.
“Are there additional resources (Redick) needs on a coaching staff to lean into player development and that arc and what it can mean?” Pelinka said.
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“It’s a very important area for us to have Lakers excellence in.”