Lakers hire former Virginia coach Tony Bennett as an NBA Draft advisor

After the firing of Joey and Jesse Buss, the Lakers found themselves with very few scouts left in their front office. They’ve begun to bolster that department by announcing on Wednesday that Tony Bennett would be joining the Lakers as an NBA Draft advisor.

He’ll be working with the President of Basketball Operations, Rob Pelinka, as they continue to retool their scouting department.

Bennett has 18 years of collegiate coaching experience. He was the head coach at Virginia for 15 years, from 2009 to 2024, and the coach of Washington State for three years from 2006 to 2009. Bennett is a three-time recipient of the national coach of the year award, winning in 2007, 2015, and 2018. Virginia won the national championship in 2019 under Bennett’s leadership.

Given his decade-plus time as a college coach, he is precisely the kind of person a franchise would want discussing which players have what it takes to perform at the next level, working with Pelinka to help build the culture in Los Angeles.

In a press release, Pelinka expressed his enthusiasm about Bennett joining the Lakers organization.

“We’re thrilled and honored to welcome Tony as an advisor to the Lakers basketball operations department,” Pelinka said.  “As we refine and build out our NBA draft and scouting processes, we could think of no better basketball mind than Tony Bennett to have as a resource. Tony’s track record of forming culture, with high-character, high-skill and high-IQ players is revered and respected across all basketball circles. Tony will be an incredible asset to our basketball leadership, to our scouts and to our draft department as a whole. We are truly excited.”

Bennett also spoke about joining the Lakers in the press release.

“When Rob and I began talking, what stood out to me was the chance to help out such a storied organization,” Bennett said. “The Lakers carry a tradition that speaks for itself, so to be connected to it and assist Rob and the Lakers in any way I can is exciting.”

The Lakers have a 2026 first round draft pick, so Bennett’s first big task will be to find a quality player for the Lakers to select at that spot.

Now that Mark Walter is officially the majority owner, the Lakers have been making plenty of new hires.

Lon Rosen has been named the new President of Business Operations as the franchise moved on from Tim Harris, who is leaving after 35 years with the team.

The Lakers will undoubtedly add many more new faces as the franchise continues its transition into a new era.

For now, they’ve begun to address their need for improved scouting by adding Bennett to this position, and that’s a step in the right direction for the purple and gold.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.