Translator's note: This article was originally published from ClutchPoints, the author is Anthony Iwrin, and the views in the article have nothing to do with the translator and the platform.

Many people inside and outside the NBA think that Jenny Buss will never sell the Lakers, and this situation may have secretly made other teams in the league secretly glad.

Over the past year or so, rumors about the future of the Los Angeles Lakers have spread all over the league circle. Admittedly, Mark Walter has been making a plan for acquiring the team one day with a pretty positive attitude, but it also means that Jenny Buss must be willing to sell the team - and that's what a very few people think might happen. Going further, the remaining 29 NBA teams had been desperate to never come this day, because the Lakers may finally be able to operate like a multi-billion dollar giant.

"The Lakers are a sleeping beast," said a Western Conference executive when these rumors began to ferment about a year ago. "It is incredible that the Lakers can achieve such brilliant achievements with the rapid development of other teams in the league. If they start to invest in resources like their competitors, the league structure will completely change."

Now, this day has come. Walter and his TWG Group – which they have formed the Los Angeles Dodgers into today’s MLB giant – have taken over the majority stake in the Lakers. The competitors in the league are ready to face what may happen next.

It should be noted that the NBA is more difficult to achieve dominance than MLB because there is a salary cap system in basketball, and there is no such limitation in the field of baseball. Additionally, the NBA also does not allow the use of deferred payment terms, which is one of the most commonly used tools for the Dodgers in their rise. No one would think that Walter would immediately violate the rules after joining the Lakers, attracting Victor Vinbanyama, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, forming a super lineup with Luca Doncic and LeBron James - such a lineup doesn't even make sense from tactical logic. What each team is really worried about is that the TWG Group can invest resources in the Lakers in areas not subject to salary cap restrictions.

Under the management of Jenny Bass, the Lakers have always been one of the teams with the most streamlined personnel structure in the sports world. Staff on and off the team are asked to take on incredibly multiple tasks. Most notably, Pelinka served as the team's president and general manager of basketball operations. Under his direct leadership, Jesse Buss serves as assistant general manager and scout director, and Joy Buss is officially the vice president of research and development, while he also serves as president/CEO of the South Bay Lakers.

As an NBA team, the Lakers also have shortcomings in some pretty basic functional departments. They did not set up a special professional scouting department, and the relevant responsibilities were shared by personnel from the basketball operation department. Since Mike Pembersey left in 2022, the team has never hired a dedicated shooting coach. Compared with other teams in the league, their data analysis and video analysis departments have also been streamlined to the extreme.

There was a time when Miles Simon served as assistant coach of the parent team while also shouldering the role of the head coach of the South Bay Lakers.

Speaking of assistant coaches, league sources also revealed that the Lakers pay for such positions at one of the lowest levels in the league, which has not yet taken into account the cost of living in the Greater Los Angeles area. This has led to a gap in the team's talent reserves in this area for many years. When was the last time the Lakers head coach became a popular young candidate for hiring for each team? This situation has never happened.

Under Buss' management, the Lakers have repeatedly focused their trust in the close friends circle around her. As this operating model is being scrutinized more, they are joining together more closely, often devoteing more energy to tracing the source of information leaks within the team, rather than ensuring that the leaked information is content that can make fans excited.

All this will change, and the degree of change may be much more than expected.

How Mark Walter made the Lakers into the "Dockers in the Basketball World"

Walter's first fire after acquiring the Dodgers was to hire Stan Carsten and Andrew Friedman to lead the baseball operation team. Friedman once built the Tampa Bay Rays, which used the "magic ball tactics" to become a real contender under the attack of big clubs such as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Walter also hired potential executives such as Falhan Zaidi and Alex Anthopoulos to enrich the team's management. The Dodgers invest a lot in medical and player development teams, which helps them discover talent from the marginal players in baseball and develop them into key players who help the team win hundreds of games year-round.

Under Walter's leadership, it is entirely possible for the Lakers to offer "godfather" offers to Sam Presti, Marseille Ujri or any other top executive, inviting them to take charge of the team, making the team's operations more stable than when they were under Pelinka. Pelinka is famous for the extreme contrast in his operations, including highlights such as winning the championship in 2020 and winning Luca Doncic, as well as tragic mistakes such as Russell Westbrook's trade and letting Alex Caruso go. The Dodgers have hired rookies like Dave Roberts as team managers and have been hiring the best team of assistant coaches in baseball. This makes Roberts now one of the best managers recognized in the sport. The Lakers do value JJ Redick's potential as a young and promising head coach, but if he can work with more highly regarded assistants, the possibility of his full potential will be greatly increased.

In the entire league, 29 other teams were not silently afraid of the arrival of the day. Jenny Buss is widely loved in the league circle because she can truly be regarded as one of the most friendly people in all of her position in professional sports. Almost everyone who has had contact with her will be amazed at the modest attitude she still maintains despite being the Lakers boss. However, like everyone else, she has her own blind spots. She will reportedly continue to serve as the team’s manager in some capacity, and the TWG Group will help ensure that these blind spots get more full attention.

can be imagined as such: since Jerry Bass acquired the Lakers in 1979, the team has achieved extremely brilliant success as an organization. Despite this, they are gradually surpassed by some of the more modern teams in the league, but are still winning championships. Now, imagine a world where the team that attracts stars the most in the NBA has the resources to maximize the chances of having stars every time - starting with Doncic and LeBron James.

Yes, this is exactly what other NBA teams have been hoping to avoid before.