Rob Pelinka open to trading draft picks if it leads to ‘sustainable Lakers excellence’

Rob Pelinka remains open to trading the Lakers draft picks, but only if it brings the franchise closer to “sustainable Lakers excellence”...whatever that means

Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick held their media day press conference on Wednesday to effectively kick off the season for the franchise.

Most questions were directed at Redick, asking about his coaching style while Pelinka fielded a handful addressing the organization's activity, or lack thereof, this summer.

One of the most notable quotes from Pelinka came when he was asked about trading the team’s first round draft picks. He claimed they were open to doing so, but only if it led to "sustainable Lakers excellence."

No, we don’t know what that means either.

The answer is understandable but frustrating. At this point, we've heard about the openness of trading draft picks for the right player for several years, but no move has been made.

The Lakers have failed to have a 50-win season in the last three seasons and have been in the play-in each year. If sustainable Lakers excellence is what the organization aims for, they've been failing to reach that standard and are, instead, swimming in mediocrity.

The team has the 2029, 2030 and 2031 first round draft picks at their disposal, but also has a full roster and is days away from training camp. When would be the time to pull the trigger on a move? How much time does this team need to determine if a shake-up is needed?

Pelinka addressed this, stating they'd know how far they were from title contention after 30 regular-season games.

We are once again on an arbitrary timeline, which is weird but not uncommon during Pelinka’s tenure.

During the Russell Westbrook season, he commented similarly about giving the team 20 games to evaluate things before making a trade. That timeline meant very little as the Lakers ended up waiting all the way to the deadline before making a deal anyway.

Now, in his defense, that did work out well, as Los Angeles made the Western Conference Finals, but that was more of an anomaly than a blueprint to success, much less sustainable Lakers excellence.

Year after year, we've heard more about what the Lakers didn't do than what they did. And with the Lakers four years removed from their 2020 title and two seasons past their Western Conference Finals appearance, results are needed. If not, the conversation will go from "Why didn't Pelinka do anything?" to "Why is he making decisions to begin with?"

Given that Pelinka's contract is up after the 2025-26 season, the time is now to bring back sustainable Lakers excellence under his regime, or else the start of that will begin with his firing.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.