Glenn Carraro named as assistant general manager of the Lakers

A season after parting ways with about 20 employees for cost-cutting reasons before the lockout, the Lakers are taking some steps in restoring their staff.

The Lakers named Glenn Carraro as the team’s assistant general manager after spending last season as both the director of basketball administration for the Lakers and as general manager of the D-Fenders, the Lakers’ affiliate in the Development League.

The Lakers were without an assistant general manager in the 2011-12 season after they didn’t renew Ronnie Lester’s contract. He had spent 10 seasons as assistant GM after working his way up the organization from being hired as a regional scout in 1987. Since then, Lester publicly criticized the Lakers for how they handled the layoffs last summer. General Manager Mitch Kupchak conceded in last week’s exit interview that he missed Lester’s presence.

“Ronnie was a dear friend and I thought we really worked well together,” Kupchak said. “But the people that I work with now I have a great relationship with and you have to move on.”

Part of that involved the Lakers hiring Carraro.

Carraro joined the Lakers’ front office staff in 2000 as the team’s director of camps. In 2006, he earned a promotion as the director of basketball administration, while also serving as the D-Fenders assistant GM for the next four seasons. In his first season as GM of the D-Fenders, the team finished with the best regular-season record in NBAD-League history (38-12) and had eight NBA call-ups. The D-Fenders also received the NBA D-League Development Champion Award.

Carraro’s 17 years of NBA experience includes serving in various positions with the New York Knicks from 1995-99, starting as a sports management trainee, then player personnel coordinator/manager of Knicks camps and eventually as manager of basketball operations

“Glenn has done an excellent job in every position he has had in the organization, and he’s become a valuable part of our staff,” Kupchak said in a statement. “This is a well-deserved promotion for him, and I expect he’ll do an excellent job in his new position.”

The Lakers had also let go four of the team’s five athletic trainers and almost the entire scouting staff, but Kupchak indicated that most of those positions have been filled.

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