Lakers' Rob Pelinka makes eye-opening Peyton Watson Summer League move amid sign-and-trade rumors
Lakers' Rob Pelinka makes eye-opening Peyton Watson Summer League move amid sign-and-trade rumors originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was out and about on Friday, attending the Summer League festivities in Las Vegas.
Surprisingly, the 56-year-old made headlines, and it wasn’t for a reason the public could easily predict.
Pelinka took the time to not only embrace Denver Nuggets rising star Peyton Watson, who’s been on the Lakers’ radar for months, but also hold a brief conversation with the 22-year-old restricted free agent.
Watson has been the subject of rampant sign-and-trade rumors lately. Although the consensus is that the Los Angeles Lakers' lack of enticing draft capital (they splurged to acquire Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz earlier this month) and overall assets will make acquiring the UCLA product more complicated than they would likely prefer, it didn’t stop various Lakers fans from keeping hope alive.
“If Rob gets Watson, he’s the best GM ever, I’m serious,” one user wrote on X/Twitter.
“Rob, if Kuminga is asking for 25, go for Watson or PJ Wash (Washington),” another user wrote.
Diehard Lakers supporters have never been without optimism. Still, based on recent reports regarding the Lakers’ offseason plans for the next portion of the offseason, it doesn’t appear that a Watson sign-and-trade is in the cards for the franchise.
Crazier things have happened within Los Angeles’ organization, though, technically still making it a possibility before the start of the 2026-27 season. If one thing’s clear, it’s Watson and Pelinka’s courtside interaction that will turn heads for a while.
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