With the impending sale of Mark Walter's majority share of the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, there are naturally a lot of questions about what this will mean for the franchise as far as any potential changes to its basketball operations. So far, it looks like not a whole lot may change. Jeanie Buss will reportedly retain her position as governor, and Rob Pelinka will remain as general manager. Over the last several months, after Walter officially bought his share from the Buss family last October, there have been changes to the front office, which have included the hiring of numerous people to handle specific roles. ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne said on "NBA Today" that Chris Paul is a name to watch and that she expects the future Hall of Famer to talk to Iger.
"There's a couple names you should pay attention to: Chris Paul, very close friend of Bob Iger's. He's sort of a mentor to Chris Paul. Chris recently retired. He's available -- incredible basketball mind. I don't know what that means for him, but I expect they'll be talking."
Paul recently retired as a player after 21 seasons. He has always been regarded as someone with strong leadership skills, and he served as president of the National Basketball Players Association, the labor union that represents NBA players, from 2013 to 2021. He, of course, was supposed to be on his way to the Lakers back in December 2011 following six seasons with the New Orleans Hornets. But then-commissioner David Stern, who was also the acting owner of the Hornets at the time, blocked the Lakers' trade offer, and Paul was instead sent to the Los Angeles Clippers. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Could Chris Paul get involved with Lakers' incoming ownership?