Rob Pelinka's Job With Lakers May Be in Jeopardy as Front Office Shakeup Looms

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly set to undergo imminent changes in their front office, looking to add several figureheads to the front office to look more like opposing front offices across the Association.

Rob Pelinka may be a casualty of the wheeling and dealing, though, with specifics about the organization's planned overhaul somewhat vague as of yet. Lakers beat reporter Jovan Buha revealed details during his latest edition of "Buha's Block."

"I did hear tonight that they're ongoing in terms of the scouting process, for the scouting department, and that there will be changes coming at some point, likely this season. There will not just be with the scouting department," Buha said.

"There will be large... as we discussed after the sale, like they're going to build out this front office in a way that I think is going to be competitive with the other top front offices in the league. That is a process right now that they're undergoing in terms of identifying the right people, and I've said countless times before, it's both quantity and quality.

"LA could use better people in the front office, but they could also use more of those people and be more competitive with some of the other top front offices in the league in terms of having, again, like five or six people in a certain position or department rather than like two or three, so doubling up or increasing that by 30 to 40 percent. That's the goal for them.

"So, my understanding is that it is an ongoing process in terms of them trying to identify those people. When they will be hiring them, I don't have clarity on it. It sounded like the second half of the regular season is in play, but we will see with that."

Why the Lakers Can Fire Rob Pelinka

Pelinka has been with the organization for almost a decade, so any potential "firing" would be reported as him stepping down. After signing LeBron James and building a championship roster for the 2019-20 season, not to mention having been Kobe Bryant's agent, Pelinka will never leave LA in disgrace.

He can be a casualty of a new management structure. After doing things his way for so long, it'd be tough for Pelinka to acquiesce to a new way of doing things. Losing power and answering to new people is not what rich and powerful executives want to sign up for at the age of 56.

There's a reason the Los Angeles Dodgers' Andrew Friedman and former Dodgers and San Francisco Giants exec Farhan Zaidi were brought on to assist this transition. No one man can be the guy who told Pelinka to take a step back.

Someone might have to, though, after the LeBron-to-Luka Doncic transition was deemed the most delicate in history, and the results that followed have been nothing short of disappointing.

There's no guarantee Pelinka is about to be shown the door, but there are signs.