Rob Pelinka Rumors

Despite finishing with the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and getting bounced from the first round, Pelinka echoed a belief shared by Lakers coach Frank Vogel and superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis after L.A.’s 113-100 Game 6 loss on Thursday that had their team been injury-free this season, their back-to-back championship bid could have been reached. “I’m convinced that, again, without some of the unforeseen circumstances this year, the challenges that we had to face, that we’d be a championship-caliber team,” he said. “So the goal is to try to keep that core group together.”