Rob Pelinka Believes ‘Natural Envy’ Plays A Role In Teams Not Wanting To Do A Deal With The Lakers


Getty Image

The Los Angeles Lakers are the betting favorites to acquire the services of LeBron James next month, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy. James has to want to play for the Lakers, and that means likely attracting another big free agent or managing a trade for Kawhi Leonard.

That the Spurs are reluctant to trade Leonard in the first place is just the beginning of the hurdles the Lakers and general manager Rob Pelinka have to overcome this summer if they want James on the roster. The biggest problem with trying to acquire Leonard is similar to the problem of attracting James and perhaps Paul George: They might not have enough assets to be attractive to free agents, or the Spurs in a potential trade. Plus no one is going to help the Lakers in either scenario.

That problem is something Pelinka himself noted to ESPN, explaining that teams aren’t exactly lining up to help the Lakers rebuild and bring LeBron to L.A. Pelinka was asked if teams are reluctant to work out deals with him knowing their intentions later this summer, and he explained that the Lakers were unable to move into the early parts of the second round at the Draft for exactly that reason.

“It’s interesting because we knew we wanted to try to acquire another pick in the beginning of the second round, and as I said, we’re in discussions on that, [but] we feel like we’re going to be able to accomplish that,” Pelinka said when asked whether the Lakers are encountering resistance from other teams in doing business during this pivotal offseason for the franchise. “So it’s not like teams are saying, ‘Oh, I’m not going to do a deal with the Lakers,’ but I do think when you have 16 banners, there’s going to be a natural envy from your competitors because you’re sitting at the top of the food chain, but that’s just life in general.”

That certainly jives with what’s been reported about any attempts to negotiate a trade for Leonard as well. It’s said that the Spurs “shut the door” on that talk quickly, though that might be the case with any other NBA team at this point, too. But it’s not like Pelinka is exactly complaining. NBA teams don’t do favors for rivals, and if a deal gets worked out, each side thinks it’s getting the better of it.

Still, considering the goal is to have James and another big star on the Lakers by October, it’s clear that L.A. would be the winner of any deals that make that happen, which means the other 29 NBA teams are going to make that as difficult as possible for Pelinka.

×