Across the NBA, there is growing doubt that the Lakers have the resources to keep up with newer investors. According to insider Eric Pincus, there are concerns that the team’s ownership group is just not capable of keeping pace with the newer wave of owners.

“The Lakers might not have had the offer-he-can’t-refuse budget to hire the leader they so desperately needed in [Dan] Hurley,” wrote Pincus via Bleacher Report.

“Many around the league look at the Lakers’ primary ownership group and wonder if they can keep pace with the newer wave of billionaires investing in NBA franchises…

The old-school Dr. Buss way of running a team is almost unparalleled in championship riches, but the Lakers of 2024 still don’t have a coach, and frugality got in the way.”

The Lakers missed out on UConn coach Dan Hurley partly because of their mediocre contract offer. Despite offering $70 million over three years, it wasn’t enough to lure him away from the college sector and it has raised a lot of eyebrows across the league.

Jeanie Buss, who is 62, inherited her role as governor of the Lakers from her father, and has been the majority owner since 2013. She’s worth $700 million today and shares her 66% family stake with her brothers. As successful as she is financially, the truth is that her wealth pales in comparison to other competitors in the field.

Mat Ishbia, who just bought the Suns for a record $4 billion, is worth more than $8 billion and has already pulled all of the stops to recruit top-tier talent in the form of star players and a championship-winning coach.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer (net worth of $125 billion) is the former CEO of Microsoft. Since he took over from Donald Sterling, he’s spent billions to reshape the Clippers, from rebranding efforts to building the infamous new arena called “Intuit Dome” which is set to debut next season.

Compared to the Clippers, Suns, and some other teams across the league, the Lakers are at a disadvantage financially and they may not have all the money to make a big addition like some other teams did.

For a franchise built on glitz and glamour, being out-bid and financially behind is not where anyone expected them to be. And if they don’t catch up soon, it could start to have a drastic impact on their standing and power in the Western Conference.

The Lakers’ Front Office Is Cheap?
The Lakers’ disadvantages do not just extend to their roster building. Unlike other teams, the Lakers lack certain specialty departments including a dedicated team of scouts to keep track of emerging talent across the league.

“The general opinion around the league is that the Lakers have a very frugal front office. Outside of the scouting department for the draft, L.A. doesn’t have scouts spread throughout the league watching NBA talent on a nightly basis in person like other franchises.”

It seems that the Lakers are used to cutting corners in order to keep expenses down and it hasn’t hurt them too much so far. With LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and other quality players, they’ve managed to build a solid group that isn’t too far removed from the last championship run.

But as additional time passes, the Lakers are falling more and more behind the rest of the NBA and one has to wonder what things will look like for them once LeBron James is no longer there to save the day.

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