Kendrick Perkins Explains Why LeBron James And Rob Pelinka Aren’t On The Same Page

Kendrick Perkins gave his thoughts on LeBron James and Rob Pelinka's relationship and their perspective on the Lakers . He said LeBron James wants to win championships, whereas Rob Pelinka is concerned with protecting the Lakers' future. He suggested that Pelinka should surround LeBron with good players if he wants the Lakers to win an NBA championship.

"He actually took the max dollars. When he gave Rob Pelinka more than enough time to do something. He said he was going to take a pay cut. For Rob Pelinka to go out there and search the market... We all know that LeBron James wanted Klay Thompson - they missed out on that to the Dallas Mavericks."

"I don't know how because all he had to do was offer something of nice quality to the Golden State Warriors to make a sign-and-trade happen. But he dropped the ball on that. Here's the thing when it comes down to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers right now."

"To me, it seems like they're on two different pages. When it comes down to LeBron, the reason he wanted to take a pay cut is for the simple fact that he wants to win now at a high level. Every single time he steps on the floor, LeBron James is thinking about championships."

"Rob Pelinka is thinking about the future. I think when you have someone like LeBron James, who is considered one of the greatest if not the greatest player of all time, you got to take advantage of that, do what you need to do to make sure you put championship-caliber players around him so he can go out and complete the mission."

(0:35 onwards)

Perkins makes some excellent points about the seeming disconnect between James and Pelinka. Despite being 39 years of age, LeBron James is still one of the best players in the NBA. And the Lakers should prioritize winning championships over protecting their future, something Pelinka doesn't seem to want to do.

The Lakers Don't Want To Have Three Stars Again

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers have 'lost faith' in the three-star model . The front office is hesitant to mortgage their future to land big stars. While a player that makes sense could sway them, the Lakers do not want to bring in a third star as they don't think they can win a championship that way.

"There’s not a dramatic deal for the Lakers to do out in the marketplace. They don’t want to use their draft picks to get contracts off. They’ll certainly use them if there’s a player that makes sense as part of a bigger deal, but right now, they’re not involved in any deals that would land them a third star."

"They’re seeing the landscape of this league and that the three stars model, with this salary cap, doesn’t work or it’s much more difficult for it to work."

This approach from the Lakers does make sense. The new salary cap rules make it very difficult for teams to rack up a large wage bill and keep three players. Furthermore, their experience with the trio of James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook was a disaster and has scared them off of trying something like that again.

James is still a superstar in this league. Last year, he averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.3 rebounds, and led the Lakers through the play-in tournament into the playoffs. James may be one of the best players in the league, but he isn't a miracle worker. Lakers head coach JJ Redick will have to come up with clever ways to use the roster to get the best out of them.

Related: Los Angeles Lakers Could Bring Back Kyle Kuzma In Offseason Trade

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