News broke on Saturday that the Los Angeles Lakers parted ways with one of the vestiges of their sometimes successful but mostly tumultuous run over the last 10 years. For better or worse, it appears that the Lakers front office is starting to take on the form of Rob Pelinka’s vision rather than the visions of glory from the past.
The Athletic’s Bill Oram reported that the Director of Player Personnel Ryan West, the son of NBA legend Jerry West, after working with the team for the past 10 years. Oram says that West received a lionshare of the credit in their draft picks for D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson (2nd round).
It’s unclear where West will go from here but given his prior experience with the Lakers and being part of an NBA family will certainly help him. It’s also unclear how much this will impact the Lakers. Their drafts were one of the most hyped aspects of the organization over the years, but since the Lakers basically don’t have draft picks for the next few years after the Anthony Davis trade, the appeal for both sides to continue the partnership may no longer have been there.
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