Bradley Beal can finally exhale—his no-trade clause drama is officially yesterday’s news. You could see the Suns stint draining the joy outta him, so when the Clippers came knocking with an $11 million-a-year lifeline? That was a no-brainer. Meanwhile, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers? MIA. Hiding behind the Deandre Ayton curtain while the team’s depth chart screams help. Can you really blame Lakers Nation for losing it?
“BREAKING: Three-time NBA All-Star Bradley Beal has agreed to a contract buyout with the Phoenix Suns and plans to join the Los Angeles Clippers on a two-year, $11 million deal with a player option after clearing waivers, Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports told ESPN,” wrote Shams Charania.
Beal just turned the Clippers into legit title contenders. Throw him in with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden? That’s a trio with legacy written all over it. A squad finally ready to shake off the Showtime shadow for good. And Pelinka didn’t even consider it? Come on—there’s no universe where that adds up.
Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka (Image Credit: Imagn)
You can practically smell the agony worldwide. Sure, the deal was wrapped up a while back—credit where it’s due, Shams had it first. But if fans saw Bradley Beal as a potential masterpiece in purple and gold, why didn’t Rob Pelinka? Whatever his reasoning, it clearly didn’t land. Instead, it lit a firestorm. Lakers Nation? Absolutely fuming.
Rob Pelinka needs a safe place to hide from the Lakers fans
Lakers fans didn’t hold back—they unloaded on Rob Pelinka. One tweet blasted him: “Rob Pelinka I can’t wait for you to get fired so bad and I never pray for my teams downfalls got me sad over Beal that’s how yk lakers are down bad.” Another fan didn’t mince words either: “Clippers GM and ability to attract players is what Pelinka wishes he could be ngl.”
And just when you thought it couldn’t get harsher, someone dropped, “Roberto Pelinka. What does he even do.” The anger’s loud, clear, and pointed. Pelinka caught all the smoke—and fans demanded accountability.
Could Ayton’s signing be just a shiny distraction masking a bad deal? It’s halfway through July, and there’s no way Pelinka’s job should be “done.” The clock’s ticking, but where are the reinforcements? Where are the stars who’ll drag the Showtime back to banner territory? They’ve all packed their bags for rival squads—ahem, the Clippers. If Kawhi and Co. go all the way while the Lakers crash out early under Pelinka’s watch, he might as well get comfy on the same couch as Nico Harrison. And let’s be honest—no PR team on Earth’s pulling him out of that spiral clean.
The Clippers will be using the remainder of the Non-Taxpayer MLE to sign Bradley Beal. Deal should look something like this:
25-26: $5,354,000
26-27: $5,621,700
Second year is reported to be a player option.
Clippers are hard-capped at the first apron with about $3.5M in room…
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 16, 2025
Nevermind just losing Beal. The worst part was how cheap he would’ve been across the pond. And the fans knew it. “This is another example of a lack of urgency from the Lakers & Rob Pelinka. Unsure what could possibly be “in the works,” but a former scoring champion signed across the street for a 2yr. $11M deal, that’s missed opportunity to say the least,” said one fan, while another one said “Someone check on ROB.”
The Clippers pulled out the calculators and crunched their way out of first apron hell. To dodge a financial meltdown, they broke Beal’s contract down just enough to stay under the threshold—while still leaving $3.5 million to patch the rest of the roster. Smart? Absolutely. Steal of the summer? Looks like it. And the mastermind? Trent Redden. So yeah, same question again—where was Rob Pelinka hiding during all this?
You can’t have things like this getting past someone who masterminded a Luka Doncic move out of thin air. But whatever the reason might be, you can’t blame the outrage. It’s back to the drawing board for Pelinka and the Lakers now.
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