HoopsHype.com Rumors

The Phoenix Suns today announced a series of moves within the team’s basketball operations department. Pat Connelly has been named to the role of Assistant General Manager and Trevor Bukstein has been promoted to Assistant General Manager. Ronnie Lester has been named a scout and Emilio Kovacic has been named International Scouting Consultant. John Treloar will remain the team’s Director of Player Personnel; John Shumate and Bubba Burrage remain scouts. NBA.com

Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards, Ronnie Lester, John Treloar, Bubba Burrage, Pat Connelly, Trevor Bukstein, Emilio Kovacic, John Shumate 

Babby would like for the Suns to tab a new GM before addressing the coaching situation, although he did call interim head coach Lindsey Hunter “a good strong candidate.” The GM search began this week with the Suns considering Milwaukee assistant GM Jeff Weltman (a finalist in 2010 when Blanks was hired), former Indiana Pacers GM and Arizona graduate David Morway and former Lakers assistant GM Ronnie Lester. Assistant GMs Ryan McDonough (Boston), Wes Wilcox (Atlanta) and Troy Weaver (Oklahoma City) are potential candidates too. Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Ronnie Lester, Jeff Weltman, Troy Weaver, Wes Wilcox, David Morway, Ryan McDonough 

Indiana Pacers General Manager David Morway, former Lakers assistant general manager Ronnie Lester, Golden State Warriors assistant general manger Travis Schlenk, Detroit Pistons assistant general manager Scott Perry and former Minnesota Timberwolves assistant general manager Tony Ronzone all have been viewed as good candidates if the Clippers decided to look their way, the executives said. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Ronnie Lester, Tony Ronzone, David Morway 

Note that I did not include the Lakers in the list of five organizations that could be headed for turmoil. According to a person directly involved in the Lakers' decision-making, speculation that GM Mitch Kupchak is on the way out is premature. Privately, Kupchak is said to be seething over the Lakers' decision to unceremoniously dismiss assistant GM Ronnie Lester and nearly all the scouts who worked under him. But there have been no indications that Kupchak, a shrewd architect of the Lakers' run of championship success, is angling for a departure. CBSSports.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Mitch Kupchak, Ronnie Lester 

In a lockout-shortened season, the Lakers will be short-handed in their front office. The team won't fill the spot vacated by former assistant general manager Ronnie Lester, whose contract expired in July. Lester was integral in evaluating college players and was a solid sounding board for General Manager Mitch Kupchak. The Lakers are also cutting back their scouting department after employing six scouts in July. The team will use a three-man staff partly made up of Jerry West's son Ryan and owner Jerry Buss' son Jesse. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Mitch Kupchak, Ronnie Lester, Jerry West, Jerry Buss 

Ronnie Lester, the team’s longtime assistant GM groomed by Jerry West, had his say after being laid off back in the summer. Recently, it’s been former assistant coach Brian Shaw who has opened up about Jim’s eagerness to distance the team from the highly successful era of coach Phil Jackson. Clever and coy in dealing with Jim while dating sister Jeanie Buss over the past decade, Jackson upon stepping down last spring finally fired several shots at Jimmy boy. Jackson had long indicated he had no relationship with Jim Buss and not much of one with Jerry, while insiders in the Lakers organization said Jackson obviously had no respect for Jim. Jackson has long been known as a tough political player from his stormy days with the Bulls, but you could hardly blame him for not wanting to kiss up to Jim. HoopsHype

Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson, Ronnie Lester, Brian Shaw, Jerry West, Jeanie Buss, Jim Buss 

Jackson’s friends had long pointed out behind the scenes that Jim was the driving factor in Jackson’s 2004 dismissal as Lakers coach and it was Jim who moved unilaterally to make the disastrous Rudy Tomjanovich hire that cost the team millions. “The Lakers will be a disaster when Phil leaves the franchise,” one of Jackson’s associates predicted a few years back. “Jim’s biggest move is to put his personal bartender on the team payroll. Jim never comes around the franchise, doesn’t even have an office there.” HoopsHype

Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson, Ronnie Lester, Brian Shaw, Jerry West, Jeanie Buss, Jim Buss 

One week after hearing that message, Shaw received a visit from Kupchak. Shaw said he did most of the talking in order to emphasize that he wasn't questioning the Lakers' decision to hire Brown, and to let Kupchak know that Shaw had been trying to protect the organization by not publicizing the Lakers' neglect of him. "Personally, I don't have anything against Mitch, and he apologized for how everything was handled," Shaw said. "I made it very clear that I was not very happy with the way that I was handled, especially having to shield all of the requests for interviews because I didn't want it to come off the wrong way. I know Ronnie Lester, when he did an interview he kind of blasted the [organization] -- there's a whole lot of stuff that a whole lot of people wanted to say, and Ronnie said some stuff that needed to be said. But at that time, because it was still so new and so raw, if I would have got started [talking publicly], it probably would have been bad." SI.com

Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson, Coaching, Ronnie Lester, Brian Shaw 

Some were told their contracts would not be renewed and some were laid off. All told, about 20 Lakers employees are, or soon will be, looking for jobs, including some of Phil Jackson's former coaching staff. It was the manner in which they were let go by one of the most successful and profitable franchises in the NBA that bothered Lester. "You think of the Lakers and you think they are a great organization," Lester said. "But if you work inside the organization, it's only a perception of being a great organization. It's probably not a great organization, because great organizations don't treat their personnel like they've done." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester 

Lester said Jim Buss, the vice president of player personnel and son of owner Jerry Buss, and his siblings are making more decisions and have increased roles. Lester said Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak wants him to return, but there is resistance inside the organization. "Mitch wants to bring me back, but he can't get the Busses [Jerry and Jim] to agree to bring me back," Lester said. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Mitch Kupchak, Ronnie Lester, Jerry Buss, Jim Buss 

Lester was asked whether it was true that Jim Buss has taken Jackson's former office, which would imply that Buss will be around more. "Jim Buss is not around much," Lester said. "The only time he is here consistently is a week or two before the draft." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester, Jim Buss 

Other Lakers employees who will be unemployed at end of the month include scouts Irving Thomas (10 years with the team), Adam Filippi (10 years), Gary Boyson (six), Gene Tormohlen (43) and Kevin Grevey (10). "They've done a great job for us and it's just sad that the organization is letting people go without communicating with these people during the course of the [lockout] situation," Lester said. "It affects people's lives. Not only those scouts, but they have families too and it affects their lives. That's what is so depressing about it, so sad about it." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester 

He was on his way to a storage unit when I called. That's the only destination in front of him that's certain at the moment. The storage unit, then Chicago at the end of the summer. Maybe. This hasn't been a good year so far. Already he's lost his job, gotten divorced and sold his house. The team he helped assemble underachieved and got swept out of the second round of the playoffs. And yet the Los Angeles Lakers assistant general manager Ronnie Lester considers himself one of the lucky ones. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester 

Barring a last-minute change of heart, Lester's 24-year run with the Lakers will end when his contract expires this month. By then, at least 20 other Lakers staffers, including almost all of the scouts who work under Lester in the basketball operations department, will have already packed their belongings and headed home. They've been told little by the team, except employees whose contracts expire on or after June 30 would not have their contracts renewed, and their jobs may or may not open up again down the line. "I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about the other people on our staff that are really good and have young families and mortgages," Lester said. "I'll land on my feet, but those guys who aren't as established, I think they're in a little trouble." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester 

It's still weird for him to speak about the Lakers in past tense. He's been a Laker nearly half of his 52 years. In another month he'll start figuring out what he'll be next. He's grateful to the Lakers for hiring him as a scout back in 1987 and everything that came after. But he's confused about why it's ending this way. "It's awful funny that the Lakers, one of the highest grossing teams in the league, could do this to their employees, just throw them out in the cold," he said. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester 

Lester said he thinks something else is going on. "The Lakers have not done a good job in communicating that to anybody whose contract has ended," he said. "Obviously the Lakers don't want these guys back, don't want the scouts back, or they would've said something in that regard. "So I don't think anybody is coming back. They've not treated people well in that regard." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester 

Lakers Assistant General Manager Ronnie Lester has sold his Manhattan Beach home for $1.65 million. The Mediterranean-style house, built in 2002, has a two-story-tall living room, a formal dining room and a family room that opens to the kitchen and back lawn. Including a guest suite and a master suite with a vaulted ceiling and a fireplace, the house has a total of five bedrooms and five bathrooms in the nearly 4,300 square feet. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester 

The revolving door for the Los Angeles Lakers franchise is ready to start turning. On the same day Mike Brown agreed in principle to a four-year, $18.25 million deal to replace Phil Jackson as the next coach of the Lakers, multiple sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com that assistant general manager Ronnie Lester will not be brought back when his contract expires at the end of June. Lester just completed his 10th season as assistant GM, serving under general manager Mitch Kupchak. The 52-year-old Lester's relationship with the team spans more than 25 years dating back to the 1984-85 season when he signed as a free agent and played the final two seasons of his injury-shortened NBA career with the Lakers, winning a championship in 1985. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Coaching, Ronnie Lester, Mike Brown 

Roland Lazenby, author of "Jerry West: The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon," published by ESPN Books in 2009, first reported the Lester ouster via his Twitter account. Apart from Lester, the Lakers have also informed more than a dozen scouts, training staff members and video staff personnel that their contracts will not be renewed when they expire at the end of June as well, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Coaching, Ronnie Lester, Mike Brown 

Roland Lazenby: Another thing that's clear: Jim Buss has gained so much knowledge about NBA personnel matters that he decided to cut loose Ronnie Lester Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Ronnie Lester, Jim Buss