Rob Pelinka was introduced as general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

Pelinka was hired by Jeanie Buss and Magic Johnson to take over for Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss after several seasons of rebuilding.

“We are going to deliver on Jeanie’s challenge to us all to make the Lakers the greatest sports franchise in the world,” Pelinka said. “That will happen.”

Despite working in a CBA that makes team-building more difficult for big market teams due to a punitive luxury tax, Pelinka believes the Lakers still have many advantages over their peers.

“We still have an intrinsic advantage,” Pelinka said. “When Earvin put on the 32 and Kobe put on the 8 and the 24, that can’t be replicated anywhere on the globe with any other team. We are going to make sure that’s how players that come here feel and want to be a part of this. We’re getting back to that place. This L.A. platform and this Lakers brand, the Buss family and legacy of winning cannot be replicated.”

The Lakers have struggled in their free agency endeavors over the past few offseasons, losing Dwight Howard in 2013, not signing Carmelo Anthony in 2014, a rough meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge in 2015 and no meeting at all in 2016 with Kevin Durant.

“Every single agent in the NBA knows that this platform is the best platform for their client in terms of marketing and in terms of the relationships in L.A.,” Pelinka said. “We’re in a city that has a powder keg of relationships.”

Johnson wanted to make an unconventional hire, so he picked a man without any front office experience.

“You have to have a guy who’s already formed a lot of relationships whether that’s with players, with agents, general managers, teams,” Johnson said. “Rob has all of that. He’s a great negotiator. Boy, that session we had yesterday … was amazing.”