Spending $261 million usually signals confidence. Around the NBA, though, it has sparked something very different. As the Los Angeles Lakers aggressively reshaped their roster around Luka Doncic this offseason, one question began circulating among league executives: did Rob Pelinka actually solve the team’s biggest problem, or simply spend his way into an even riskier one?

ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill joined Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on the Hoop Collective. He shared an interesting interaction with a G League GM who had a question for him. “A GM told me, ‘Is Rob Pelinka trying to get fired?'” he said. Now, why would any executive in and around the NBA ask such a thing?

Goodwill didn’t question the individual additions. Instead, he questioned the roster around them. “That’s the question. Are they athletic enough?” he said, arguing that even adding Walker Kessler doesn’t solve the Lakers’ biggest defensive issue if opponents continue beating their perimeter defenders off the dribble.

If defenders cannot stay in front of opponents, Kessler will constantly be forced to clean up mistakes. “You’re going to get this guy in foul trouble and put him in so many damn collisions and pick and rolls that he can’t cover all that space that he’s going to need to,” Goodwill added.

The concern is supported by the Lakers’ defensive profile. Last season, Los Angeles ranked 19th in the NBA with a 116.4 defensive rating while allowing opponents to shoot 48.6% from the field, among the league’s worst marks. Those numbers suggest the team’s defensive problems extended far beyond finding a traditional center.

Meanwhile, players like Jarred Vanderbilt aced the protective end, and Luka, too, made progress. Yet, the deficiencies in attack, turnovers, and transition leaks, and the lack of bench power have bruised them for years. But maybe, things might change next season with the new roster defying all odds and silencing all concerns.

Why Pelinka Still Believes This Will Work

Despite the skepticism, the Lakers clearly believe this roster fits Luka Doncic’s long-term timeline. The front office spent the offseason addressing several needs that had existed throughout the latter years of the LeBron James era, beginning with the addition of Walker Kessler at center.

According to multiple reports, Doncic remained in regular contact with the organization throughout free agency and was “excited” by the offseason additions after identifying rim protection as one of the team’s biggest priorities.

The Lakers committed $261 million across four acquisitions: Walker Kessler (four years, $130 million), Quentin Grimes (four years, $60 million), Sandro Mamukelashvili (four years, $52 million), and Collin Sexton (two years, $19 million). The spending reflects just how aggressively Los Angeles moved to accelerate the Doncic era.

Whether Pelinka’s aggressive offseason becomes another masterstroke or another cautionary tale won’t be determined by the size of the contracts he handed out. It will depend on whether this rebuilt roster can solve the very question rival executives are asking: did the Lakers actually become better defensively, or simply become more expensive?