The Los Angeles Lakers are already making moves for their next era. Their rebuilding process hasn’t stopped with Mark Walter’s departure. A substantial amount of ‘Dodgerfication’ was set to hit LA, with MLB executives like Lon Rosen and Andrew Friedman jumping ship. And now, under Rob Pelinka’s sustained leadership, the general manager layer has also been revamped in two parts, with a Joshua Kushner connection stepping in to fill one of the roles.

Although Kushner and Bob Iger haven’t yet received the league’s final approval to take over, the LA franchise has inked a deal with a longtime Miami Heat staffer. He spent more than 22 years alongside Pat Riley, starting as an intern, working his way through scouting, personnel, and G League executive roles, and eventually becoming Miami’s vice president of player personnel.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Lakers are hiring Eric Amsler as an assistant general manager. He will join former New Orleans Pelicans executive Rohan Ramadas, who joined the Purple and Gold in May in the same capacity. Interestingly, the two of them bring very different skill sets to the table.

Ramadas, a rocket scientist specializing in salary cap, analytics and data, will focus on strategy, while Amsler’s job profile will include “pro scouting, draft scouting, player development,” as Pelinka described the vacancy earlier this year.

A little over a year ago, in an insider-access Miami Heat video, Amsler described his role as more than just watching basketball clips.

“We’re almost like investigative journalists,” Amsler said. “We’re talking to players, coaches, former teachers. Anybody that has been involved in this person’s life to find out not only who they are on the court, but off the court, because as they enter the NBA world, there are a lot of other things that are factored into their future.”

Amsler’s long tenure in Miami makes his move to LA notable. He has seen the organization secure three NBA championships and make seven NBA Finals appearances while working alongside legends like Pat Riley and Andy Elisburg. Amsler was also named the G League Basketball Executive of the Year in 2024.

While Amsler brings proven experience to the Lakers basketball operation, the bigger puzzle piece involving Kushner and Iger, who are set to purchase the team in a reported $12.5 billion agreement, has yet to fall into place. But Lakers reporter Dan Woike just highlighted an unusual complication. 

Kushner is also a minority owner of the Heat. Woike noted that Kushner owns a 5% stake in Miami and must divest it before he can purchase the Lakers. This creates a logistical hurdle. Finding a replacement for that 5% equity will take time, and no reporting suggests Kushner has found a buyer.

The NBA Board of Governors will not greenlight the transition until Kushner officially completes the divestment. Meanwhile, current Governor Jeanie Buss is locked in a legal battle with her siblings over control of the Lakers. Crucially, she remains the franchise’s current governor as the ownership transition plays out.

The league’s vetting process for a multi- billion-dollar franchise sale is rigorous.  The Board of Governors, which consists of representatives from all 30 teams, must review the financial structures, backgrounds, and legal frameworks of the incoming owners. For a historic $12.5 billion acquisition, the scrutiny will be immense, and at least 23 governors (75%) must approve the purchase.

This also explains why current Lakers president Rob Pelinka remains the one making these front-office hires. Kushner and Iger cannot legally make official personnel decisions or command the Lakers’ front office yet.

What roles will Josh Kushner and Bob Iger take on at the Lakers?

Initial reports that the Lakers ownership duo would collectively call the shots in the future were “greatly exaggerated,” according to Charles Gasparino of the California Post. Kushner is expected to “plunk down” nearly $2 billion, which will give him the 15% ownership required to become governor.

On the other hand, Iger is “poised to become a major player with the Lakers when it comes to being a face of the team and an executive overseeing its operations, general manager, maybe.”

A source close to Kushner confirmed that Iger doesn’t intend to be the controlling person and is comfortable working in an alternate governor capacity.

It remains to be seen how Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss will be involved after the takeover. Iger initially made it clear that he and Kushner would honor Mark Walter’s agreement, which would keep Buss in the governor’s seat until 2030, but with the 97-page petition Buss’s lawyers filed in the LA Superior Court against her own siblings, nothing seems certain for now.

Reporter Khobi Price noted that it is “technically possible but also realistically improbable” that Buss’s siblings would each sell their shares to her. Even if that settlement-like structure comes through, it’s very unlikely that Jeanie will have the “financial backing” to make that kind of overhaul purchase.

Regardless of Jeanie and Pelinka’s future, though, the Lakers are already preparing for the Kushner-Iger era, and Amsler’s hiring proves it.