Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Hire Former UVA Coach Tony Bennett as Draft Consultant: Sign of Dodgers Model?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The basketball ops makeover begins as the Lakers hire former UVA coach Tony Bennett as a draft consultant. Is it a good move? Is it a sign of things to come? That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network, your team every day.

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Starting point is 00:00:49 The number one, sports podcast network anywhere on this planet or other distant planets. And we thank you for it. I'm Brian Komeneski with Andy Komenetsky. The Lakers, you know, obviously, you know, need to build out the basketball operation. That is something that is a mandate really from new owner, Mark Walter. They did make one of their first high-profile additions to the basketball operations. Former UVA head coach Tony Bennett has been brought on as essentially a draft consultant. And so he is going to be working with the scouts as that department gets built out from the skeleton crew they currently have into something a little bit bigger with the front office.

Starting point is 00:01:33 really, I think if you are looking for an analog, I think most people would say, okay, this is sort of in Jesse Buses' realm. If you're looking for like, who used to do this for the Lakers? So Tony Bennett, a very respected former college coach with tons of success at UVA, sent some players to the NBA despite not having what you would consider to be a classic powerhouse program. he is now in the fold, Andy, to help with the draft. Yeah, here's the statement from Rob Polinka. We are thrilled and honored to welcome Tony as an advisor to the Lakers Basketball Operations Department.

Starting point is 00:02:14 As we refine and build out our NBA drafting scouting process, we can think of no better basketball mind than Tony Bennett to have as a resource. Tony's track record of forming culture with high character, high skill, and high IQ players is revered and respected across basketball circles. Tony will be an incredible asset. to our basketball leadership, to our scouts, and to our draft department as a whole. We're truly excited. One thing I found interesting about this.

Starting point is 00:02:39 He's Mana from Charlottesville, Andy. Yeah, from the entire state of Virginia, however you want to put it. You got to love a Rob Polinka press. I so badly want to get hired by Rob Polinka, just so he'll write something, say something nice to me in a press statement. But it's interesting when you said that he would basically be serving the Jesse Bus role, from Dan Wojke, the athletic covers the Lakers, his report, Bennett, a team source, will not be leading the Lakers' draft room or scouting.

Starting point is 00:03:10 Instead, Bennett's experience in finding players who possess toughness, energy, and IQ will aid the Lakers' search as they restock an empty-ish covered of young talent, empty-ish doing a lot of work there. That is getting a hernia. And I think it's important just a people. That's a good clarification. Just so people understand. Like Tony Bennett was not hired, it appears, to run the scouting department or necessarily

Starting point is 00:03:41 be a scout or anything like that. What it seems. I meant, but I should have been more careful that. He's in that realm of, you know, the people who are going to be responsible for helping to evaluate the draft talent. But you're correct. That is, it's perhaps an overstatement. Well, it seems like.

Starting point is 00:04:00 a lot of ways. And I think this is important just because it also reflects the Dodgers model, which we've seen, and all indications are there's going to be a lot of mirroring what they do over there with Mark Walter as the main face for both in the ownership and Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman being brought over as advisors to Rob Polinka as Rob builds out or helps build out the front office as opposed to Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zayev being brought on his basketball minds, which there's no indication that's going to be the case. There's a way in which this follows the Dodgers model that I think is something that Lakers fans will really, really like. And there's a way that this follows the Dodgers model that I think will be perhaps disappointing

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Starting point is 00:08:19 So here's, we'll start with the parts that people will like, Andy. Is Tony Bennett going to be a great draft? consultant I have no idea he again he's you know sent guys to the NBA not all of whom are stars you know Sam Houser types and stuff like that you know among the recent UVA guys from that program who've been in the NBA so he understands not just star players but you know what kinds of players can fit roles which is important because most of your players that you draft, whether you take him in the first round,

Starting point is 00:09:00 second round, or wherever, are not going to be stars. They're not drafted to be stars. They're not drafted to fit a certain role that you need on that team. He is a really well-respected, very smart basketball guy, who I assume at the very least will be able to provide sound advice to Rob Polinka. I don't think he's ever done this before.

Starting point is 00:09:23 So I don't know exactly if he's brilliant or not, but he's a well-respected guy. This is the Dodgers model. Go find smart people and pay them to do something for you that brings that smartness into your organization. The Dodgers had, like when they first started, had like 13 general managers. It was like if you were, you know, unemployed or. available and the Dodgers would throw money at you to be part of the room with Andrew Friedman in it. And this is straight out of that playbook. And we'll see how they continue to expand it. Again, more reporting on Wednesday that this is part of the beginning of the process of the Dodgers,

Starting point is 00:10:13 I'm sorry, the Lakers really building out that front office. So in that respect, it absolutely is the part of the Dodgers model that fans want to see. It's also too. I mean, really quick, just so people are aware. He did coach at the college level, Clay Thompson and Trey Murphy III. So he has had some time around some players who've ended up more high profile DeAndre Hunter was one of his recent guys as well. One of the things that I love about this as a hire in terms of finding who they've identified as smart minds, bringing them in, giving him this sort of role. It's one of the, checks one of the boxes that I've wanted to see. No ties to the Lakers whatsoever.

Starting point is 00:10:56 Like the closest thing I could find to a Laker tie for Tony Bennett, for people unaware he played in the league for three years with the Hornets. He spent one season with J.R. Reed, who was part of the trade that sent Eddie Jones and Eldon Campbell to Charlotte and brought J.R. Reed and Glenn Rice to the Lakers. That's the closest thing I could find to the Lakers stuff. I know you really want them to stay away from the organization and retreads and that way. I do think that's probably far enough. It's sufficiently far enough.

Starting point is 00:11:31 And that's good. That's good though. They need people like this. They need perspectives like this. Tony Bennett falls into brand new voice, brand new perspective. And I love that. He also, too, has a lot of experience in identifying and developing players that, frankly, don't have the traits that Rob Polinka generally values most,

Starting point is 00:11:59 whether you're talking about defense first type players, whether you're talking about dirty work players, whether you're talking about the guys who don't do the flashiest, often star-making stuff, but are dead-ass essential for a championship team and to build a roster that is fully balanced and can do a lot of different things. These are the areas where I think,

Starting point is 00:12:22 Rob Polinka, especially over the last three or four years, his track record has been spotty at the best. I think I'll disagree with you there a little bit just in the idea that I bet if you asked Rob, do you care about those things? I'm sure he would say yes.

Starting point is 00:12:37 I think he has a problem in identifying the players that can provide it. And also be able to function in the rest of it. Like being able to dig deeper and figure out which, you know, of these skill sets will translate in a way that I can actually use this player.

Starting point is 00:12:58 Okay. Well, regardless of how Rob would either plead his case or spin his case, the last three, four, or five years, his track record here has been spotty, regardless of what the reason is. He clearly needs help. This is a step in getting in more help with that. Absolutely. And, you know, I will say, I mean, I know the fear of retreads is, well is well earned. And this is going to sound callous. They've been such an insular organization for so long. There aren't that many people with those quote unquote,

Starting point is 00:13:37 like deep ties to the Lakers, they can even turn to at this point. You know, Mark Walter doesn't really have that. I know people talk about the Rosen thing as a, uh-oh, that's a red flag. I see that as, it's not. It's not. It's 100% bringing the Dodgers culture.

Starting point is 00:13:52 to the Lakers. 100%. So I don't worry about that in the slightest. Here's the thing that that will disappoint fans. The process that Mark Walter, when a lot of Lakers fans, because this offseason coming is so significant, I really can't be overstated how important it is. Lakers fans, especially those who really don't trust Rob, wants sweeping change. They want Rob gone.

Starting point is 00:14:19 They don't want Rob to be put in charge of. of building out the department that Rob is going to run, even if Rob ultimately now has a boss that will fire him. Jeannie probably wouldn't have. Mark Walter will. I have no doubt about that. But the process that the Dodgers went through when Walter and the Guggenheim group hired the team was a deliberate one.

Starting point is 00:14:43 My read is that they're taking a similar approach here to where, yeah, this is a really significant off-season, but we are building for the long-term. You hear Andrew Friedman talk about this all the time. The process here is designed to be sustainable over the long-term. And so I'm sure Walter understands this is a big off-season. It matters. But more important, I think, to him because he's not planning on owning the team for a year, two years, five years.

Starting point is 00:15:18 It's a 10-year investment, a 15-year investment, a 20-year investment. That, my read, is the timeline that they are going to be using with this off-season. And so, Polinka is going to be in charge and they're going to build it out. If they were going to be rid of Rob Polinka, they would have done it already because there's too much other stuff going on to, you know, sort of run your GM out of town at the end of the year right before all this. So I think ultimately, if you, you know, from a process standpoint, that's probably better. But it is going to be, you know, cross your fingers, white knuckle territory for Lakers fans to see if Polink can really, at the very least, make really strong positive steps in what I think will be a couple of your process to building a true championship contender around Lucas. Look, anybody expecting, A, Rob Polinka to be fired before this summer, I am guessing, if not predicting pretty strongly, you're going to be disappointed. So put that to the side. It's unlikely to happen.

Starting point is 00:16:31 You have to-astrophe. You just have to accept that, is what I'm saying. You have to accept that. If your yeah-but-to-all-of-this is, but I want Rob Polinka fired, then this is pointless. Like, you might as well just wait until that happens. but for the time being, this is what it's going to be. I'd be surprised. Yeah, for sure.

Starting point is 00:16:53 So would I. But what matters, though, is who is put around Rob to help empower Rob to do the best job possible to in a lot of ways hold Rob to a higher account because there becomes fewer excuses for not landing on the right people. There are fewer buffers in terms of the people that would maintain his job. safety and I think there is more of an opportunity for him to do a better job. I think you are correct that they're looking at this from anywhere from a this off season to a 20 year long view in terms of what they want to turn the franchise into. But it doesn't change the fact that

Starting point is 00:17:34 this off season is extremely important. And the goal should be, I've said this before, I do not think I'd be happily wrong. I would be surprised if by the end of this offseason the Lakers are transformed into inner circle contenders. For me, the standard is, are they better? Does the roster seem more logically shaped around Luca Donchich? Do you see a plan and a vision? If the answer to all of those questions is yes, Rob did good work. If the answer to that is no, then Mark Walter and the people that he trusts most need

Starting point is 00:18:11 to be asking some serious questions about Rob Polinkas' future. But you have to accept all that's going to be happening over the next month or next few months through the prism of Rob Polinka will likely be the one guiding it. You just have to accept this. Locked on Lickers on YouTube is where you can hang out with over 37,000 subscribers to the channel. Of course, the Lakers playing Thursday night against the Sun's huge game. We'll be there to recap it all when it's over. We'll see you then.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Hire Former UVA Coach Tony Bennett as Draft Consultant: Sign of Dodgers Model?

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