Rob Pelinka said the Los Angeles Lakers will prioritize continuity when NBA free agency gets underway.

Speaking at the introductory press conference for 2023 NBA Draft picks Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis, Pelinka reiterated the sentiments he expressed at exit interviews.

“We’ve been pretty clear since our last game, with the success of making it to the Western Conference finals, we want to try our hardest to keep our core of guys together and also improve around the edges and on the margins to not only get back to where we were last year but hopefully take the next step, get into the NBA Finals.

“We want to try our hardest to keep this core together.”

Prior to the draft, the Lakers had four players under guaranteed contracts for 2023-24: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Max Christie. Hood-Schifino and Lewis will presumably be added to the roster, while Shaquille Harrison is on a non-guaranteed contract.

The Lakers intend to resign Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura and are expected to retain D'Angelo Russell. Dennis Schroder and Lonnie Walker IV are candidates to return, depending on their market value. The Lakers will likely have their taxpayer mid-level exception, estimated to be about $7.7 million.

Pelinka said the Lakers will be looking to sign “guys that play tough-minded basketball, that play defense, that play the right way.” (Schroder, who is close with Ham, certainly fits that bill.)

On Thursday, the franchise will have to decide whether to pick up Malik Beasley's $16.5 million option and Mo Bamba's $10.3 million salary for next season.

Here's what Pelinka said at exit interviews, about 12 hours after the season ended:

“Keeping that continuity is going to be very important. We ultimately got knocked out by a team that has great continuity, that’s got a group of players that’s been together for several seasons, and it shows in the way they play. That’s a high priority for us. We feel like we’ve got a group of special players in the locker room. They enjoy playing with each other. Darvin enjoys coaching them. We know there’s more growth and improvement in that group, especially if we get a training camp together. So, I would say that’s a high priority, to keep our core players together.”