Lakers hire Rohan Ramadas as assistant GM
Lakers hire Rohan Ramadas as assistant GM
Khobi PriceMon, May 25, 2026 at 2:52 PM UTC
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An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Jerry West and Jeanie Buss at a Los Angeles Lakers game, Image 2 shows President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka of the Los Angeles Lakers speaks to the media during a press conference at UCLA Health Training Center on May 12, 2026 in El Segundo, California
The Lakers have filled one of their two assistant general manager vacancies.
The franchise has hired Rohan Ramadas as an assistant general manager under president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka.
With Mark Walter and Jeannie Buss leading the way, the Lakers have hired Rohan Ramadas as an assistant general manager under president Rob Pelinka.
With Mark Walter and Jeannie Buss leading the way, the Lakers have hired Rohan Ramadas as an assistant general manager under president Rob Pelinka.
Ramadas last worked as a vice president of strategy and operations for the Pelicans.
The hiring, which was first reported by ESPN on Monday, is the first of two assistant general manager hires the Lakers plan on making this offseason.
Pelinka told reporters after the Lakers’ 2025-26 season ended that the franchise was in the midst of the interview process for the roles.
One assistant general manager will work in “player draft and evaluation processes”, according to Pelinka, which will include pro scouting, draft scouting and player development. The other will be more on the “strategy side”, which entails cap, analytics and data.
The latter is the role is filling Ramadas.
After earning a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering from USC, Ramadas worked for The Aerospace Corporation for 12 years before joining the Pelicans’ front office on a full-time basis in September 2024.
He was the franchise’s senior director of analytics and innovation before being promoted in May 2025 to vice president of strategy and operations.
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Ramadas was an analytics consultant for the Pelicans for seven years before joining the organization full-time. Before working with the Pelicans, Ramadas was a draft analyst with the Heat in 2016-17.
The hiring of Ramadas is part of the Lakers’ “reconstruction” this summer, which is the franchise’s first full offseason since Mark Walter, also the Dodger’s controlling owner, purchased the majority stake of the Lakers.
“We have already started that reconstruction, have made hires in our front office and continue to develop new technologies and new areas that we’ve turned on for the draft [and] free agency,” Pelinka said. “A lot of the infrastructure is being built. We will continue to staff out with assistant general manager positions. There’s a couple of those that we’re currently interviewing for and have done an extensive dive in that process. Those will be two key pillars that we’ll add for this offseason.”
The Lakers have made several hires since Walter’s purchase, including Lon Rosen as the president of business operations (replacing Tim Harris), Michael Spetner as the new chief strategy and growth officer (new position) and Ryan Kantor as the vice president of global partnerships (new role).
Rosen, Spetner and Kantor all previously worked for the Dodgers.
On the basketball operations side, the Lakers hired former Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett as an NBA draft adviser in February, in addition to the hiring of Ramadas.
Dodgers executives Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman joined the Lakers in advisory roles in November.
The franchise is also looking to enhance their practice facility with a biomechanics lab, new movement labs and a recovery lab.
The Lakers’ changes come in the midst of a pivotal offseason: LeBron James is an unrestricted free agent; Austin Reaves is expected to decline his player option for 2026-27 and become an unrestricted free agent; Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes are also unrestricted free agents; Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart also have player options for next season.
Source: “AOL Money”
