Throughout last season and the first half of this season, it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers had little, if any, hope of returning to respectability any time soon.
They were saddled with a roster that lacked youth, athleticism and viable depth around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, not to mention tradable assets.
As the team aggressively shopped Russell Westbrook, many felt he had no value on the open market and L.A. would be forced to give up at least one future first-round draft pick to unload him while bringing back little in return.
But the situation has turned out much better than most could’ve reasonably hoped.
General manager Rob Pelinka turned Westbrook, a 2027 first-round pick and little-used players Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones into point guard D’Angelo Russell, who has been playing very well and appears an ideal fit. In addition, he also gained Jarred Vanderbilt, who is an excellent and versatile frontcourt defender, and Malik Beasley, who has the ability to get hot from the perimeter.
Since those three players debuted, the Lakers are 8-4.
Before their game against the New York Knicks on Sunday, ESPN analyst and former Knicks and Houston Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy heaped praise onto Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers’ front office (h/t Sports Illustrated).
“Give Rob Pelinka and his front office staff monumental amounts of credit for the overhaul, and saving the Lakers’ season,” Van Gundy said during tip-off of Sunday’s broadcast.
Even with James sidelined due to a right foot tendon injury, Los Angeles is in position to make the playoffs because it has a fairly favorable schedule the rest of the way.
