Lakers’ Ryan West named director of player personnel

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After serving various scouting positions with the Lakers for the past six years, Ryan West was promoted to be the team’s director of player personnel.

West had recently served as the Lakers’ assistant director of scouting and worked along with Lakers director of scouting Jesse Buss. West also worked as a scout with the Memphis Grizzlies for eight years.

West’s change in title is definitive, but the Lakers do not plan on making any official announcement until sometime in September. The Los Angeles Times first reported the news.

West is the son of former Lakers player and general manager Jerry West. He led the Lakers to an NBA championship in 1972, became a 14-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA team member and won the 1969 Finals MVP during his NBA career with the Lakers from 1960-74. He then served head coaching and scouting positions before assuming the general manager role in the 1982-1983 season. That led to seven championships and an NBA executive of the year honor in 1995. Jerry West also secured Shaquille O’Neal in free agency and Kobe Bryant on a draft-day trade in 1996, which led to three NBA championships.

As for Ryan West, he and Jesse Buss played a role in the Lakers in the team acquiring Jordan Clarkson in a trade during the 2014 NBA Draft. The Lakers paid the Washington Wizards about $1.8 million for their 46th pick to select Clarkson, who was then named on the NBA’s all-rookie first team.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com