The Los Angeles Lakers have extended their contract with general manager and vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka until the 2025-26 season, according to ESPN.

It was revealed that the purple and gold reached the deal with Pelinka when they appointed Darvin Ham as the team's new head coach in May. The two will have the same tenure.

Pelinka joined the Lakers' front office in 2017 as the general manager. Before that, he was the agent of the team's icon Kobe Bryant. In summer 2018, Pelinka managed to land LeBron James for the purple and gold as a free agent. One year later, he ran the trade to acquire Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans.

Pelinka was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in January 2020. The Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals that year to win their 17th championship in franchise history.

However, both the Lakers' performance and Pelinka's career took an unfavorable turn since then. The team had to secure qualification for the playoffs via the play-in tournament in the 2021-22 season and then were knocked out by the Phoenix Suns in the first round. Pelinka completed the trade for Russell Westbrook with the Washington Wizards in summer 2021. The deal, however, failed to help the Lakers take a step forward. The team finished the regular season with a poor 33-49 record, not even good enough to participate in the play-in tournament.

"This was a disappointing Lakers season at every level and I think in the face of disappointment our fans expect more and that's at every facet. It starts with the front office led by me and our ability to construct the right roster," Pelinka said in April. "When you have disappointment, you need to take ownership of that and you need to vow to make the adjustments to be better and that's where the work starts today."

The Lakers made several moves during this offseason and the best of them was signing Patrick Beverley, who could provide a boost on defensive. However, that is not good enough to turn the team into a postseason contender immediately. Pelinka's to-do list is still long and one of his major tasks is to trade away Westbrook for someone who can help the Lakers without giving away too many future assets.