I didn't see that but my point stands. If Griffin told Pelinka it was a fill or kill after they agreed to the moving pieces, he had no choice but to say done on the spot. If Pelinka blew up the trade because of the closing date, he would really be stupid.
Obviously, we'll never get the full story. Pelinka will not want to look stupid here and he has less than a sterling reputation as far as being honest.
I will admit I'm pretty salty after watching the Celtics get spanked over the last week, so I'm definitely biased here.
BUT I'm not sure about your "
Fill or Kill" theory. The Laker moving pieces (Ball, Ingram, maybe Hart, maybe Kuzma, 3 draft picks) were pretty well understood for months ahead of time and they knew they had the #4 pick weeks ago. So the several "moving pieces" and their cap implications should have been thought out weeks beforehand.
All Pelinka had to say to Griffin is "here is our offer (Ball/Hart/Ingram/#4/future 1st rounder/future pick swap),
but we'll need the 2019 #4 pick to NOT sign until July 30 so we can (a) pay AD his trade kicker & (b) fill out our roster".
It appears the Lakers didn't realize
(a) and called the Pelicans back, after consummating the trade, about
(b). When Griffin got that follow up Pelinka call, he probably laughed, patched in the Pels owner (on mute) and said "we'd love to help you Rob, but we plan on trading that pick, good luck playing 3 on 5 next season"
Since Pelinka didn't do
(a) and
(b) at the time of the trade, that exhibits very questionable trading skills. If Pelinka resigns, is demoted, or is fired by mid-season I'll take that as confirmation of a major screw up.