The Lakers are finally ready to flex a different kind of muscle - not on the court, but in the front office.
With billionaire Mark Walter now steering the franchise, the Lakers appear poised to make a long-overdue investment in the infrastructure that supports winning. While the NBA’s salary cap limits how much they can spend on players, there’s no such ceiling when it comes to building out a world-class front office. And according to recent reports, that’s exactly where the Lakers are headed.
Dan Woike reported Friday that the Lakers plan to begin constructing a new-look front office - one modeled after the Los Angeles Dodgers, the MLB powerhouse also owned by Walter. The vision is clear: bring the same kind of organizational depth and strategic sophistication that helped the Dodgers win a World Series and consistently contend at the highest level.
And this summer could be the launchpad. With cap space and momentum on their side, the Lakers are expected to make significant hires across multiple departments.
League insiders say the plan includes a wide range of front-office additions, from scouting to analytics and beyond. One rival executive didn’t mince words when asked about the potential of a fully built-out Lakers front office: “It’s going to be scary.”
That reaction speaks volumes - because for years, the Lakers have been behind the curve in exactly these areas.
According to publicly available data, the Lakers’ basketball operations department has just 56 employees. That’s a lean operation by NBA standards. Compare that to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are one win away from a championship and have 88 staffers, or the New York Knicks, who just reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years and employ 92 in their basketball ops department.
And those numbers were before the Lakers cleaned house in their scouting department. The firings of Joey and Jesse Buss made headlines, but they were part of a broader overhaul that saw much of the scouting staff let go.
Truthfully, that reset was probably overdue. Scouting is one of the most obvious - and impactful - areas where a team can spend to gain an edge.
Right alongside that is analytics. In the modern NBA, data isn’t optional - it’s foundational.
And the Lakers, for all their brand power and championship pedigree, have lagged in both areas. That’s about to change.
The big question now is whether the front-office expansion will include new decision-makers. Rob Pelinka remains the President of Basketball Operations, but with Walter’s backing, could we see a new general manager or other high-level voices brought into the mix? Adding more basketball minds to the room could only help - especially with a pivotal offseason looming.
One of the more intriguing notes from Woike’s report is that the Lakers plan to model their front office after the Dodgers - a team that’s become synonymous with forward-thinking roster construction, deep analytics, and elite player development. If the Lakers can replicate even part of that formula, they’ll be in a much stronger position to build sustained success.
And yes, even the Dodgers’ creative financial tactics - like deferred payments - might be worth a look.
For now, the focus is on infrastructure. The Lakers are finally stepping into the modern era of NBA team-building, and how they approach these hires over the next few months could shape the franchise for years to come. With a crucial summer ahead, this organizational investment might be just as important as any move they make on the court.