{"id":9690,"date":"2026-05-27T18:07:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9690"},"modified":"2026-05-27T18:07:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:07:54","slug":"lakers-gm-rob-pelinka-stresses-player-development-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9690","title":{"rendered":"Lakers GM Rob Pelinka stresses player development focus"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>LOS ANGELES \u2014 When scanning through the Lakers\u2019 season during the team\u2019s 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\u2019 second-round playoff exit.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9688\">Lakers\u2019 Luka Doncic earns All-NBA First Team honors for 6th time<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The franchise\u2019s president of basketball operations and general manager, one of the key figures in the Lakers\u2019 front office since 2017, singled out Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell.<\/p>\n<p>The former second-round draft pick played at UC Santa Barbara \u2013 the Big West Conference Player of the Year in 2023-24 \u2013 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\u2019s four victories \u2013 almost 10 more points than the 13.6 he averaged during the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>In Game 4 last Monday, Mitchell recorded a career-high \u2013 in the regular season or playoffs \u2013 28 points to help eliminate the fourth-seeded Lakers and close the doors on their season. Mitchell is one of the Thunder\u2019s many scouting and development marvels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s ways to add to your roster if you commit to doing the hard work and commit to the process of adding the right pieces,\u201d Pelinka said after referencing Mitchell. \u201cWe\u2019ll be doing that through the draft and free agency and through trades. We\u2019ve got to find a way to have a roster that will compete with any team in the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cneed to look at\u201d as depth, athleticism and youth \u2013 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.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2013 especially to Oklahoma City or San Antonio\u2019s standards \u2013 often comes down to spots 10 through 15 on the team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou look at OKC\u2019s roster, you look at San Antonio\u2019s roster, they have 13 high-level rotation players minimum,\u201d Redick said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a luxury to have in the NBA and it\u2019s one of the reasons why those teams are really good.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pelinka said they want the Lakers to line up with Redick\u2019s vision for the roster, which the front office boss said included highly competitive, basketball IQ-based and team-first players.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cContinuing to find young players and develop the mindset is the first thing,\u201d Pelinka said. \u201cGetting the right players with the right mindset and then developing the basketball side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pelinka said that in the \u201csalary cap system,\u201d 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\u2019s hard not to look at what Pelinka called their \u201cbrother-sister\u201d organization: the Dodgers.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9686\">Angels walk off Rangers to complete sweep behind Reid Detmers\u2019 dominant outing<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe 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\u2019s an area that they really want us to grow,\u201d Pelinka said. \u201cWe see that, of course, with our brother-sister organization, with the Dodgers, they\u2019ve invested a lot in player development and have done it so well.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pelinka pointed to Redick\u2019s trust in rookie Adou Thiero \u2013 the team\u2019s second-round selection in the 2025 draft \u2013 during the playoffs as proof of the team\u2019s ongoing player development with youth.<\/p>\n<p>Thiero moved from what Redick had previously called a \u201cdevelopmental\u201d 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\u2019d \u201cmost likely\u201d play in the NBA Summer League in July, considering he didn\u2019t play before his rookie season began because of a left knee injury.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust being out there, seeing how teams were playing me,\u201d Thiero said, after the Lakers\u2019 elimination, of what he\u2019d take from his playoff experience. \u201c(Learning) what reads I\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Second-year guard Bronny James also relished his playoff experience, playing during the first-round series against the Houston Rockets \u2013 in a testament to the increased playing time he saw in the latter half of the Lakers\u2019 season \u2013 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.<\/p>\n<p>James, the eldest son of Lakers star LeBron James, said he enjoyed his second season in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat I can play at a higher level,\u201d James said of what he learned in Year 2. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre there additional resources (Redick) needs on a coaching staff to lean into player development and that arc and what it can mean?\u201d Pelinka said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9672\">Rancho Alamitos baseball reaches first CIF-SS title game by beating Oxford Academy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a very important area for us to have Lakers excellence in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pelinka highlights Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell as an example of the identification and growth from which the Lakers could learn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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