With Mark Walter acquiring the Los Angeles Lakers for $10 million, his plans are now seemingly taking place. It starts with a major change in the front office as one of Governor Jeanie Buss’ trusted associates won’t continue next season. While she may be sure about her future, the same can’t be said about her ex, Tim Harris.

“Lakers president of business operations Tim Harris informed staff Tuesday that this will be his final season with the organization per sources. Harris, who was the driving force between the massive local TV rights deal with Spectrum SportsNet, has been with the Lakers/The Forum for more than 35 years.”

When The Athletic’s Dan Woike dropped this update, reporter Yaron Weitzman shared an excerpt from his book “A Hollywood Ending” about the relationship and the influence that Harris had over the franchise.

Harris was a former UCLA soccer goalie and had met Jeanie Buss when he played for the LA indoor soccer team, Lazers. Then the two dated for a few years and stayed close afterward. Following his retirement from playing professionally, Harris joined the Great Western Forum, which served as the home court for the Lakers. He was the Forum Sports Vice President and would eventually join the Lakers, bringing financial success because of his influence over negotiating a local TV rights deal with Spectrum SportsNet.

It’s unknown at this time why this is happening, or whether Harris had been contemplating it for a while, or if the change in ownership influenced his decision. There were some criticisms that Harris had to face during his tenure, especially one coming from Lakers legend Magic Johnson.

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The 5x NBA champion stunned the team and the NBA world at large by stepping down as the team’s president of basketball operations during the 2018-19 season. He would speak about it on ESPN and aired his issue about Rob Pelinka and how Harris’ influence was a roadblock. Johnson wanted to fire the then-head coach, Luke Walton. But Harris kept insisting otherwise.

“Tim wanted to keep him because he was friends with Luke. When I looked up and said, ‘Wait a minute, I only really answer to Jeanie Buss. Now, I got Tim involved.’ I said, ‘It’s time for me to go.’ I didn’t like that Tim Harris was too involved in basketball. He’s supposed to run the Lakers’ business, but he was trying to come over to our side,” Johnson concluded.

Now that Mark Walter is in charge, the plans to change some seats are not out of the window. In fact, the Lakers hired Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman, two key executives from the LA Dodgers, for advisory roles. The latter is currently the president of baseball operations and was one of Walter’s first hires when he took over the Dodgers in 2014.

So there is a possibility that Friedman takes over a similar role with the Lakers. While the changes to the front office are being made, Governor Buss is not concerned about her future.

Jeanie Buss’ future is secure with the Lakers for now

Jeanie Buss and her family made a major decision to sell the majority stake of the Lakers to Mark Walter last year for $10 million. The Buss family kept 15% of the team owing to her father’s legacy. Furthermore, she agreed to stay on as a governor for at least five years to keep the stability of the franchise. In fact, Walter appears not to change those terms.

Jeanie Buss once again reiterated her stance on fulfilling her tenure in her recent interview with CNBC. “That’s what I agreed to. Mark Walter and I are very comfortable with the way things are set up. And I expect things to go on and be successful. And you know, I’m not going anywhere.” While she is not moving, overall, the Lakers could be looking at a massive transformation.

Because earlier this season, Governor Buss was the subject of a revealing report detailing behind-the-scenes arguments within the organization. Mark Walter is not afraid of changing things up. He did it with the near-bankrupt Dodgers and turned them into a championship squad.