The Los Angeles Lakers are not only planning roster changes this offseason.
Vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said the organization is undergoing a modernizing transformation.
Pelinka revealed during the Lakers’ end-of-season presser, alongside head coach JJ Redick, that the team has already begun rebuilding key areas of its infrastructure, including front-office expansion, player development resources, and sports science investments.
“It’s a full rebuild and retool,” Pelinka said.
While much of the offseason conversation will focus on roster construction around Luka Dončić and bringing back LeBron James and Austin Reaves, Pelinka made it clear that the organization believes long-term success will require major changes off the court.
And aligned with that, the Lakers are actively searching for two new assistant general managers, according to Pelinka.
“One of those [assistant] general managers would be over player, draft and evaluation processes… pro scouting, draft scouting and player development,” Pelinka said. “The other AGM would be more on the strategy side, which is cap, analytics and data.”
The additions to their front office would put the Lakers alongside teams across the league that lean on analytics, scouting systems and data-driven decision-making.
The Lakers are also making major investments in facilities and player performance resources.
With the organization’s G League team moving into a new arena in Coachella Valley, Pelinka explained that additional space at the Lakers' current facility will be repurposed into advanced training and recovery areas.
According to Pelinka, the plans include:
A biomechanics lab
New movement labs
Recovery and sports science spaces
Renovations to aspects of the practice court
Pelinka specifically credited Lakers governor Jeanie Buss and owner Mark Walter for supporting the push.
“We have already started that reconstruction,” Pelinka said.
The changes will mirror a model seen elsewhere within Walter’s sports ownership with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a franchise widely regarded as one of professional sports' leaders in player development and sports science.
As the Lakers transition into building around Dončić as the organization’s “north star,” Pelinka emphasized the need for depth and development to be in championship contention.
“We have to find sustained excellence,” Pelinka said when discussing rebuilding through losing seasons.
For a franchise often associated with star power and blockbuster moves, the Lakers' biggest offseason additions may not be players at all.
It could be through sports science to optimize players' performances and recovery, something very vital to a path to that Larry O'Brien trophy.