Lakers Rumors: Buzz from Los Angeles on Kobe Bryant and More

The offseason cannot get here fast enough for the Los Angeles Lakers.

After all, they are one of the worst teams in the NBA recordwise, lost their lottery pick Julius Randle to a season-ending injury in the first game of the season and recently saw the legendary Kobe Bryant go down for the season with injury as well.

Fortunately for Lakers fans, the offseason presents an opportunity to improve the team for next year. With that opportunity comes rumors about potential moves and free agency. 

Here is a look at the latest whispers from Los Angeles.

 

Kobe Bryant 

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times provided an update on Bryant’s future plans:

Bryant will miss the rest of the season after shoulder surgery for a torn rotator cuff, but it’s not as if the Lakers were heading for the playoffs with him on the floor anyway. Bryant discussed the notion that he will decide for himself what his intentions are for next season as opposed to listening to others, via ESPN.com: “I don’t really listen much to what people have to say, to be honest with you.”

Bryant will be 37 this offseason and is the NBA’s highest-paid player.

While he is no longer the explosive game-changer he was in his prime, he was still putting up solid numbers in the first half of the 2014-15 campaign before the injury. In fact, Bryant was posting 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game on the season and even scored 44 points against the Golden State Warriors in November.

If the Lakers were to add a couple of productive pieces in the offseason, Bryant could certainly still be part of a winning formula in Los Angeles.

 

Offseason Plan

Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report passed along the latest on the offseason blueprint for the Lakers:

Even if top unrestricted free agents such as Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan, Greg Monroe and Rajon Rondo (or restricted free agents Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green) don’t want to come to the Lakers or switch teams at all this summer, the Lakers do plan on upgrading the roster in some meaningful way.

This offseason will certainly be one of the most interesting in recent memory for the Lakers. On the one hand, they clearly want to bounce back after what promises to be a disappointing 2014-15 campaign, but they also don’t want to mortgage any future chance they have at landing a megastar like Kevin Durant with a reactionary, short-term move.

Fortunately for Los Angeles, it will potentially have more than $20 million to offer free agents this summer, but Bryant’s astronomical contract will come off the books in 2016. Any contracts signed this offseason could impact the plans for future summers down the road.

It is not difficult to envision a scenario where Bryant returns next season to a team with a healthy Julius Randle, a top-five draft pick as a result of all the losing this year and perhaps a productive free agent or two. That roster would at least be more competitive than the one we have seen this season. 

The question the front office will ultimately have to answer is how much it is willing to spend to make that happen for next year as opposed to how much it wants to save for a potentially massive spending spree in 2016.

 

Bryant Involved 

As long as the discussion is centered on Los Angeles’ plans for next season, Bresnahan passed along an interesting update:

There are few players who could make as convincing of a sales pitch as Bryant across the entire league. For one, he has five championship rings to show off to potential free agents, but it is about more than just the winning in his past.

After all, who understands the benefits and lifestyle of being a star for the Lakers in Los Angeles better than Bryant? Between the favorable weather during the winter season to the legendary Staples Center crowd, there is something to be said for the lure Los Angeles offers outside of what happens inside of the actual lines on the court. 

Whether Bryant can portray that to some of the league’s top free agents this offseason remains to be seen, but the Lakers could certainly use an overhaul within the next year or two if they hope to compete for another championship ring.

 

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5 Biggest Takeaways from Los Angeles Lakers’ 1st Half of the Season

It’s a tough time to be a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers.

After decades of unparalleled success, the team is in a fallow period. They currently sit second-from-the-bottom in the Western Conference, much closer to having the league’s worst overall record than they are to a playoff seed.

Now with their face of the franchise sidelined for the duration of the 2015 campaign, things are as hopeless as they have ever been in Laker Land.

With that gloomy backdrop setting the scene, let’s investigate the five biggest takeaways of this season’s first half.

Unsurprisingly, there were more problems than solutions to be found.

Begin Slideshow

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Lakers Rumors: Kobe Bryant Remains Crucial to Rebuild Despite Injury

Kobe Bryant‘s third serious injury in as many years does not derail the Los Angeles Lakers‘ stubborn, brave rebuilding trajectory.

Like him or not, it is painful to see Bryant, now 36, on the shelf once again as he continues to fight a losing battle with Father Time. Legends like him are just that, legends, and the time for going out on top appears a thing of the past.

Unless he and the Lakers stay the course.

In reality, Bryant remains useful despite shoulder surgery this past Thursday. The world knows Kobe: This is not how he will end his career. He confirmed after the operation to ESPN that next year is his return target:

‘Yeah, that’s the plan,’ Bryant said.

Bryant said his rehab over the next couple of months will involve ‘a lot of patience.’

‘Sore, but it’s OK,’ Bryant said of his shoulder.

Bryant said media opinion on whether he should return for a 20th season or retire wouldn’t affect his decision.

‘I don’t really listen much to what people have to say to be honest with you,’ Bryant said.

In the meantime, Bryant sounds ready to spearhead the recruiting effort off the court, something he would have done regardless of health.

Mike Bresnahan of Los Angeles Times shares the rumblings:

Call it a holding pattern. The plan continues to be next offseason’s free agency and the one after. The young rebuild headlined by Julius Randle is one part of a bigger scheme: the chance to reel in a Kevin Durant or some other superstar down the road.

Bryant doesn’t need to be on the court this season to help. He was a shell of his former self, anyway, averaging 20.4 shots and scoring just 22.3 during strange usage by coach Byron Scott.

Recent comments by Mitch Kupchak say it all, per Mike Trudell of Lakers.com:

Free agency is the key.

The Lakers figure to tout a top pick next offseason, although it may be more trade bait than anything. There does not figure to be a top pick in 2016 or 2017 unless he is close to the top of the order, either.

A lack of further incoming young talent means the Lakers will do what they do best: swing for the fences.

Bryant is the deciding factor.

This upcoming offseason, it is one thing to lure a DeAndre Jordan, Greg Monroe, Marc Gasol or even Rajon Rondo to town. It seems imperative, though, that Bryant stress not only the importance of the rebuild and the Laker way but that of his own personal situation.

Superstars do not want to share the spotlight for long, especially with a legend as ingrained as Bryant is with the Lakers. The Dwight Howard debacle is a reference point. As Bryant fades, he likely needs to sell the idea that he will take a back seat. 

Scott, for his part, seems to believe this is in the cards regardless, per Serena Winters of Lakers Nation:

That is a far cry from his 35.4 minutes per game this season through the first 27 games, which led the team.

If Bryant can sell his status, the rest will fall into place. The Lakers are an obvious sell. The cash is there. Budding talent is in place, which will at the very least provide a deep rotation. 

Even the ability to sell the idea of a Durant or Mike Conley coming to town in 2016 will help dramatically improve things in the interim:

In the meantime, the Lakers can continue to develop their young core. Ed Davis is promising. Tarik Black also offers plenty of upside beneath the rim. Jordan Clarkson is worth the time investment.

As it always does, though, the proverbial ball seems to be in Bryant’s hands.

This time, he just needs to change his approach for the Lakers to succeed.

 

All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.

 

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Kobe Bryant Discusses Return Date, Recovery from Shoulder Surgery

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant confirmed two things most basketball fans already expected during a quick stop at Staples Center on Thursday. The guard expects to return for the 2015-16 season and he doesn’t care what other people think about it.

In a brief interview with ESPN, the 36-year-old Lakers legend said his shoulder was predictably sore after undergoing surgery that’s expected to sideline him for about nine months. He replied in the affirmative when asked if he planned to play again.

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Bryant said.

He plans to be ready for training camp in September. He was then asked whether any of the outside talk about his future would have an impact on his ultimate decision. Unsurprisingly, he downplayed the discussion.

“I don’t really listen much to what people have to say to be honest with you,” he said.

Bryant was averaging better than 22 points before going down with the injury. A lack of talent around him caused a lot of one-man basketball, however, which resulted in the worst shooting percentage of his career at 37 percent.

The 19th-year pro was also clocking nearly 35 minutes per game. While down from his peak numbers, it still represented a high total for a player working his way back from injury. That’s especially true for a player at this stage of his career.

If Bryant does return, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from either him or the Lakers. He’s signed through next season, but the limited amount of impact players around him have left the franchise in a bit of a rut and his contract makes it tougher to add major pieces.

Of course, Bryant made it clear all of that talk doesn’t faze him. He’s going to do whatever he thinks is the best move personally. It sounds like returning to the court is the plan, at least for now.

 

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His Body in Need of Repair Again, Kobe Bryant’s Mind Will Determine NBA Future

 

LOS ANGELES — On a day for everyone to dissect the latest breakdown of Kobe Bryant‘s body, it’s actually far more relevant to analyze his mind.

A strong mind is his only chance for this to end well.

Of course, his worn-down body has to cooperate better than it has, but there’s no way Bryant meets his goal of going out on his terms if the mind is not first willing and able.

“When you’re a cerebral basketball player, you can always be effective,” LeBron James said after the Jan. 15 game that was Bryant’s last full one this season—and the one in which Bryant had a career-high 17 assists in his 1,279th regular-season game.

“Our game is so fascinated with guys that can run as fast as you can or jump as high as you can. People forget about the mind of the game—which is really the most important.”

Bryant’s determination has been widely hailed as part of his greatness. It’s at the core of everything from his playing in pain to his immaculate fundamentals.

Next season more than ever, Bryant’s basketball IQ will be his guiding light on the court. Problem is, Bryant has a mental marathon to run before he even graduates to thinking about the game again.

Bryant underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a tear in his right rotator cuff, the group of muscles and tendons that keep your arm from falling out of your shoulder. The Lakers announced Bryant “will be out for approximately nine months,” a conservative projection that goes a long way to ensuring that Bryant will meet his every-time goal of beating the doctor’s recovery timeline.

In this case, the nine-month reference alludes to the general guideline that even if the shoulder is fully healed in six months, the risks of physical contact are not recommended for another three months. That’s why Bryant’s surgeon, Neal ElAttrache, said: “If all goes as expected, he should be ready for the start of the season” in late October, nine months from now.

That said, Bryant’s right shoulder was not the most pristine one in the first place. It’s unrealistic to expect this piece of his equipment to set healing-time records after its integrity has been compromised so much in the past.

The shoulder has bothered Bryant periodically for most of his career, including enough this season to get an ultrasound exam. The first surgery Bryant ever had was to that shooting shoulder in 2003, after suffering from soreness in the joint for years before that.

The ’03 procedure removed an inflamed bursa and trimmed a frayed labrum and is completely related in a basic sense to this one: The bursa cushions the area around the rotator cuff in the shoulder.

That surgery took less than an hour; this one took two. And the recovery from rotator cuff surgery is decidedly not pleasant. Let’s be clear about that before anyone assumes Bryant is now pain-free and gallivanting off to begin his Rocky workout montage for his latest dramatic comeback.

This is why Bryant’s mental willpower is the most important thing.

After one of the most tedious recoveries you can have after rupturing his Achilles in April 2013, Bryant now has to struggle through this—which includes ongoing pain for months, wearing a sling and not being able to drive. It also involves a rehab more mind-numbing at the start (hand squeezing, shoulder shrugs) than intense.

The knowledge of how limiting and taxing this shoulder recovery is going to be–stemming from the slow healing required after he fractured his knee in December 2013—prompted Bryant’s statement in The Players’ Tribune about having to rally and rehab a third season-ending injury in three years:

“I feel like I just returned a 100-yard kickoff in the last two minutes of the Super Bowl to win it all only to have my run called back by a flag on the play.”

Leave it to Kobe to be making a new sort of history at the end of a career marked by the ability to overcome his body’s limitations, a skill Phil Jackson deemed as flat-out superior to Michael Jordan. Mariano Rivera rehabbed from a torn ACL just to come back and have one last season; Bryant is in the midst of his third rehab in hope of going out on his terms.

Bryant’s broader legacy is obviously secure. What he must hope for now is that people will remember his final seasons for how he kept getting knocked down and kept getting up.

That’s a lot different from playing in pain and performing under pressure. And it requires a great level of maturity.

That perspective is most likely what Bryant will, in his own mind, remember most about these final years of his career.

All the sitting and all the losing are simply not part of the inherent Kobe DNA. He is having to adapt in ways that have nothing to do with his physical being.

On that night two weeks ago when LeBron was praising Kobe’s mind, there was Kobe…thanking Phil Jackson for the expansion that has been going on up there.

“I actually did listen to some of the Zen stuff that he would throw out there—being present, being mindful,” Bryant said. “Being able to detach yourself from the situation and just be is something that has really helped me throughout this entire season. It’s the ability to be calm and to see the big picture—and just to be present.”

Jackson taught Bryant to appreciate the moment—whether a championship moment or one quite unnatural to hold dear.

Every moment has value, offers growth and shows strength—including the crippling setback or the tedious rehab session—if you embrace it instead of running from it.

Kobe will be tasked to to find that value again, a test that is sure to challenge his robust mind as much as that broken body.

 

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.

 

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Lakers News: Rumors and Buzz Following Kobe Bryant’s Season-Ending Surgery

The Los Angeles Lakers have been dealing with a plethora of serious injuries to key players throughout the season, but the most devastating happened on January 21 against the New Orleans Pelicans. All-Star guard Kobe Bryant suffered a right shoulder injury that ultimately ended his season.

Making matters worse, the recovery from his rotator cuff surgery appears to be longer than previously anticipated. At first, Bryant was thought to have a recovery time of roughly six months; however, that time period appears to be increased to nine months, according to a statement from the team. Bill Oram of the Orange County Register tweeted the news:

That’s not a good omen for a 12-34 Lakers team that is struggling to find its identity. After all, this team is in a rebuilding mode, and if Bryant would opt to leave Los Angeles following his most recent injury, the Lakers organization would find itself in complete disarray.

Luckily, there’s some good news. Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times tweeted some interesting gossip from people close to Bryant:

Even head coach Byron Scott appears confident regarding Bryant’s potential return, according to a tweet from Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com:

So, here’s the burning question: What should we expect from Los Angeles while Bryant recuperates?

Well, first of all, expectations must certainly be tempered for the remainder of the season. The Lakers are currently fifth in the Pacific Division and don’t have the available talent to dig themselves out of such a massive hole. In fact, the team is currently riding a nine-game losing streak and is just one more loss away from tying the longest drought in team history, according to Holmes.

That said, the remainder of the season should reflect more of a talent evaluation than anything. This team needs to make decisions about the roles of some key players going forward.

One such player is Nick Young. The always-confident small forward had this to say following the news of Bryant’s season-ending injury:

That’s quite a bold statement from a player who is shooting just 37.3 percent from the floor and currently resides in his coach’s doghouse. Here’s what Scott had to say about Young after benching the forward following his lackluster first-half performance Sunday against the Houston Rockets, via theScore:

The remainder of the season will certainly dictate what kind of future Young has with the Lakers.

In the meantime, Los Angeles will likely get a much closer look at Jeremy Lin. Scott held Lin out of Friday’s contest against the San Antonio Spurs, and perhaps that lit a fire under the guard. He’s been inconsistent this season, but he’s shown signs of improvement lately, showcasing a more aggressive attitude on the court and the willingness to facilitate during his last two games.

Lin is now averaging 10.5 points and 4.6 assists per game this season while shooting 42.8 percent from the floor. We’ll see if he can continue to gain the approval of his head coach or if he’ll be pushed to the back burner in favor of Jordan Clarkson and Ronnie Price.

Aside from deciding the future roles of those two players, the Lakers should also be expected to be players in free agency during the summer. Since Bryant is expected to return to the team, he will also be active in the recruiting process during the free-agency period, according to a tweet from Bresnahan:

There’s plenty of star power set to hit the open market this summer, and Bryant is the team’s best chance of recruiting the necessary personnel to finally right the ship in Los Angeles. After all, once Bryant recovers, his playing time will be limited, according to Scott, who also alluded to having a rotation capable of relieving the guard, via Serena Winters of Lakers Nation:

If that estimate comes to fruition, it would be quite a dip from Bryant’s career average of 36.5 minutes per game and even a severe drop from his average of 34.5 minutes this season.

The future isn’t exactly looking bright in Los Angeles, as this former powerhouse continues to display a massive amount of futility that doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon. The only hope for this team to right the ship is a full recovery for Bryant and a significant amount of changes during the offseason.

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Kobe Bryant Injury Update: Lakers Shut Down Star for Remainder of Season

For the third time in as many years, Kobe Bryant will finish his NBA season on the injured list. The Los Angeles Lakers ruled their star shooting guard out for the remainder of the 2014-15 campaign Wednesday after Bryant underwent surgery on a torn rotator cuff.

Bill Oram of The Orange County Register had the Lakers’ statement:

Mark Medina of the LA Daily News reported Bryant would be in a sling for six weeks following surgery.

Bryant, who has been dealing with a sore shoulder for most of the season, aggravated the injury last week in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Doctors confirmed a diagnosis of a torn rotator cuff following an MRI on Monday and scheduled surgery for Wednesday. While it was widely expected Bryant would be ruled out, the Lakers waited to confirm until doctors saw the extent of the damage in surgery.

Bryant, 36, averaged 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 35 games this season. He posted a career-low 37.3 shooting percentage, which included an abysmal 29.3 percent mark from beyond the arc. The Lakers were more than 11 points per 100 possessions better when Bryant was on the bench at the time of his injury, per Basketball-Reference.

Many, including Lakers coach Byron Scott, have wondered whether Bryant’s extended minutes played a part in his body breaking down. Despite promises of a smaller workload, Scott played Bryant 34.5 minutes per game—including more than 37 a night during the season’s first month.

“I don’t know if the wear and tear of playing so many minutes early is a result of what’s happening to him right now,” Scott told reporters. “To be honest with you, I thought about that, it made me almost sick, you know.”

Bryant has now suffered a major injury to a different part of his body each of the last three seasons. He tore his Achilles tendon late in the 2012-13 season, was held to six games because of the Achilles recovery and a knee injury in 2013-14, and suffered the shoulder injury this year. By the time Bryant returns for the 2015-16 campaign, he’ll have played exactly half of a season since April 2013.

Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times weighed in on where the Lakers and Bryant should go from here:

The team needs to turn the page, but owner/executives Jim and Jeanie Buss both signed off on rewarding Bryant for his years of service.

From a basketball perspective, he should retire — but in the real world, Bryant has earned his Derek Jeter year, even if the cost will be another season of Lakers purgatory.

Any discussion of retirement is likely premature. The Lakers owe him $25 million in base salary for 2015-16. While that money may mean more to the average American than someone of Bryant’s wealth, it would still be borderline unprecedented for him to leave it on the table.

There is also a matter of pride. Bryant is on the shortlist of the most competitive players in league history. For him to go out like this would be uncharacteristic. Odds are Bryant will use these months of rest to rebuild his body and come back next season a more valuable player.

His career may not wind down with a sunset ride into an NBA championship, but Bryant assuredly wants to write a better final chapter than this. Look for him to use this shutdown as an opportunity to make that happen.

 

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Freed from Lakers Uncertainty, Pau Gasol Rediscovering All-Star Form, Attitude

OAKLAND, Calif. — After all the days, months and years of trying to block out what hurt his heart, Pau Gasol was the one bringing up all of the trade rumors now.

“I’m re-energized. I’m in positions where I’m comfortable and effective, so I make a lot of plays,” Gasol said of his wonderful new life as a Chicago Bull instead of a Los Angeles Laker. “And the fact that my name is not on the trade block like it has been for the past three years, that’s a factor that’s overlooked.

“It’s huge. It’s huge not to have to think about that and have it in the back of your mind constantly. It’s nice to have that type of security and comfort.”

Playing like an absolute monster for the Bulls, Gasol can now tell the full tale.

To Gasol, it was draining and downright depressing to be shopped by the franchise he helped take to three consecutive NBA Finals, including two championships, changing everything about Kobe Bryant‘s legacy.

Now, though, Gasol knows how it feels to be cherished again. Tom Thibodeau pushes him to do more with his length on defense and trusts he is “as skilled a big man as there is in this league.” A previously strong Chicago team depends on him for so much that Golden State coach Steve Kerr said Tuesday: “Gasol gives them a totally different dynamic.”

Gasol then went out and put 18 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists and four blocks on the Warriors, who were handed a 113-111 overtime loss to snap their 19-game home winning streak.

Empowerment arises from knowing you’re wanted.

It’s even more uplifting if you haven’t been wanted for a long time.

So it is with a little awkwardness that Gasol returns to Staples Center on Thursday night to face the Lakers as a visiting opponent for the first time since leaving in free agency.

After all the pleasant-enough shrugs and convincing words (“My heart is here; my mind is here.”), Gasol tried to brush off the effect the trade speculation had on him while a Laker, but we now know how much it hurt his pride and his game.

Come Thursday night, he will have some bitter with the sweet that he also remembers.

“There will be a lot of different emotions, I think,” Gasol said.

He has heard from plenty of Lakers fans happy for his success this season, and he very much appreciates it. Gasol is well aware of the Lakers’ ongoing spiral, and he’s sorely disappointed that Bryant is missing both chances for them to be on the court together this season.

But when asked if he would endorse the Lakers organization to someone who asked, including his All-Star center brother who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, Pau offered little reason to believe the fledgling Lakers are on Marc’s wish list.

“Marc wants to win a championship,” Pau said. “That’s what he’s looking for. That’s what’s most important to him. I don’t know if you think the Lakers will be in a position to win a championship next year or not.

“But he knows what he’ll be looking for as a free agent—or maybe he’ll stay in Memphis because they have built a very good team already there with some very good pieces. He’ll know what he wants, and he will be ready to make his decision.”

It was Pau’s 2008 trade demand to leave Memphis that got him to the Lakers in the first place (with the underrated rights to Marc going to the Grizzlies). So you can criticize Pau for not being loyal to his team back then. He also has to assume some responsibility for not giving the Lakers more the past three years when receiving a superstar’s wage that topped out at $19.3 million.

Yet the bottom line is that the Lakers handled the trade situation poorly, especially with someone whose No. 16 jersey they expect to retire on the Staples Center wall next to Bryant’s No. 24.

No, it’s not the Lakers’ fault that their Chris Paul trade was blocked. But it would’ve been better for both parties if the Lakers settled for the next-best deal and still sent Gasol off for a fresh start.

For as much as he has been called physically soft, Gasol is so mentally strong that the Lakers overestimated his ability to play great through a truly rare trade limbo. It didn’t help that one coach (Mike Brown) marginalized him for Andrew Bynum and the next (Mike D’Antoni) put him even further outside as the organization had to cater to Dwight Howard.

The net result was bad karma, poor health and the Lakers not getting anything better than financial savings offered in trades for Gasol last February, with general manager Mitch Kupchak saying no to all offers he said included “no basketball components” for Gasol.

That’s how far Gasol had fallen.

He was an All-Star in 2009, ’10 and ’11. Then the Lakers’ Paul trade appeared but disappeared in December 2011, and with the ongoing negativity in the air in L.A., Gasol was never an All-Star again—until this season with Chicago.

Let’s remember the disappointment at being included in that Paul trade basically drove Lamar Odom’s career off the rails. The Lakers knew how fragile Odom was and rushed to give him away to Dallas for nothing—with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban now calling it “probably the worst move I have ever made.”

When the moment came that Paul was officially traded to the Clippers instead of the Lakers, Gasol was notified in his car just outside the Lakers’ training facility. Where you might’ve expected a big smile from one of the kindest people in sports, there was noticeable trepidation in his eyes that it didn’t necessarily matter. Gasol still feared he’d be sent away.

It never did happen.

Gasol, 34, can at least be grateful that it led to this season, when he is proving again “the type of player that I am.”

A Hall of Fame player. Perhaps even a championship player again this season with the Bulls, who listen to Gasol in a way that the Lakers never could with Bryant always around.

Yes, Pau even has a little Kobe in him these days with the way he holds teammates accountable for defensive errors or mishandling his passes.

Gasol is only two years younger than Bryant, meaning you could see Gasol asking for heating pads for his knees midway through the fourth quarter and carefully stretching out those hamstrings before overtime. But on Tuesday night, after Golden State had grabbed momentum from Draymond Green’s tip-in over Joakim Noah before the regulation buzzer, it was Gasol who set the tone by calmly nailing the first bucket of an overtime in which Chicago never trailed.

There have been a lot of moments this season that have seen Gasol flashing back to the past. But it surely isn’t 2011. Maybe 2010, when the Lakers last won the NBA title.

Gasol is the only player from that 2010 championship team still in the NBA today. Bryant is out for the season again, and not a single other player besides Gasol is active just four years after their ultimate glory.

Then again, the time has moved slowly for Gasol.

The Lakers held on to him too long. Fortunately for Gasol, it wasn’t past the point of no return.

 

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.

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Los Angeles Lakers Getting Early Glimpse of Ugly Life After Kobe Bryant

With Kobe Bryant’s latest injury, the Los Angeles Lakers are getting a closer look at life beyond their longtime star. So far, it’s looking pretty ugly.

Bryant sustained a torn rotator cuff Jan. 21 during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans. He’ll have surgery Wednesday, and he will miss the remainder of the season, as relayed by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

There have been plenty of other chances to imagine life without Bryant. He played just six games last season as the Lakers fell to 27-55, their worst loss record in franchise history.

This season, Bryant’s comeback lasted 35 games. Of those, 27 were played in a row. Over the next 16 games, Kobe was eight on, eight off as he periodically rested due to the wear and tear on his body.

During that time, the Lakers roster has gone through a series of lineup changes, with new coach Byron Scott searching for ways to find something, anything, that can get his team back on track.

Adding to the strange dynamic this season has been speculation that the team might be better without its five-time champion. After the Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors December 23—the first game without Bryant in the lineup—ESPN LA’s Baxter Holmes observed:

But underlying the Lakers’ biggest win of the season was the notion that has been floating around for a while, one heavily supported by advanced statistics. So far this season, the numbers indicate that the Lakers have performed better when Bryant is off the court versus when he is on it.

Scott wasn’t buying the theory, per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “Anybody that really insinuated that we’re better without him, it’s ridiculous. We’re a much better team when he’s on the basketball floor. Period.”

To punctuate that point, the Lakers have lost nine out of 10 games played without Bryant since then. The team is a mess and at 12-34, it is on track to have an even worse record than last season.

Scott used the same starting lineup for the first 20 games of the season before the changes started hitting the fan.

Carlos Boozer forfeited his starting position to Ed Davis, who recently lost it to Jordan Hill, who shifted over from center to power forward. Jeremy Lin lost his job to Ronnie Price and then got it back for just one game before earning a DNP for the first time in three years.

Meanwhile, Wesley Johnson gave up his starting small forward position to second-year stretch 4 Ryan Kelly, Wayne Ellington is gamely trying to fill the void left by Bryant at the shooting guard position and second-round rookie Jordan Clarkson has become the Lakers’ latest starting point guard.

Clarkson is showing exactly what you would expect from a developing prospect with plenty of potential—he’s eager to score, pressing too hard and learning on the job.

Tuesday night provided a glimmer of light, however, as L.A. hosted the Washington Wizards and were up by as many as 19 points in the second quarter. Washington eventually closed the gap and claimed the win, but Ellington and Clarkson each posted career highs, with 28 and 18 points, respectively.

Scant silver linings aside, being deprived of wins has had its obvious negative effects on players, such as Sunday’s loss against the Houston Rockets in which Nick “Swaggy P” Young—the most dependable ray of sunshine in a relentlessly gloomy season—took just two shots in the first half, missing both, and was then benched for the remainder of the game.

Afterward, Scott said per Lakers.com: “He looked to me, to be honest, that he didn’t want to be here…I just felt, with his body language, that he didn’t want to play tonight. So I chose not to play him.”

The following day after practice, Young said, per Lakers.com: “Losing can catch up to you. I’m still a human being, I’m still going out there and trying to fight, but at the same time, you get tired of getting beat up, and it can catch up to you.”

That same practice resulted in a moderate sprained ankle for Young after Clarkson landed on it. 

And so the season plods on, made even worse by the absence of Bryant, a fading franchise star who has one year left on his contract after this season.

Also on the sidelines are prized draft lottery pick Julius Randle, who had the mind-boggling bad luck to break his leg in his NBA debut, and future Hall of Famer Steve Nash, who was declared out for the entirety of his final contracted season in Los Angeles with back and nerve root issues.

Nash hasn’t bothered showing up at the Lakers facilities since the regular season began.

It’s just not a good time for the Purple and Gold.

The ripple effect of injuries, inconsistent individual efforts and a generally weak roster has resulted in a team second only to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the worst defense in the league, giving up 106.1 points per game. L.A.’s offense is only marginally better—ranked 19th at 99.3 points per game. On assists, they rank 22nd and if you’re looking for some signs of hope, they are the definition of middling when it comes to rebounds, ranking 15th (stats per ESPN).

This is a team in transition, and the idea was to develop an affordable core group of supporting players, draft some future stars, sign a meaningful free agent or two and, perhaps, acquire more talent by trade.

The roster that would rise from that relatively quick makeover would then surround Bryant for one last glorious stand.

But No. 24 suffered yet another serious injury, leaving the team in an unsure state of flux similar to last season, with few guaranteed contracts, some money to spend going forward and, theoretically, a plan of action.

As the second half of an ugly season gets underway, faithful fans can only watch and hope—that young prospects will develop into solid contributors, and that the latest head coach will show a surer touch than he has so far.

They hope that Nick Young reclaims his swag and gives everyone a show, and that management demonstrates objectives that are more than pipe dreams.

And the most fragile desire of all, that Kobe Bryant—so beaten down by Father Time—will return in a supernova blaze of glory for his 20th NBA season and leave us all with a beautiful memory.

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With Kobe Bryant Era Ending, Steps for Lakers’ Return to Prominence Are Clear

LOS ANGELES — The Laker way, as fully endorsed by Kobe Bryant, has been to swing for the fences.

About the only thing Bryant and longtime former owner Jerry Buss clashed over was when Bryant thought Buss was breaking their blood-brothers pact to go all-out for championships in the years after Bryant stayed and Shaquille O’Neal went.

Bryant’s new shoulder injury is the latest harbinger of his era’s finality, and with Buss gone, it’s time to stop and figure out how some other people might return the Lakers to grandeur.

Normally, sports franchises hope for quick rebuilds if good fortune strikes but accept that it usually takes years and years of player development and team chemistry. To that end, both Magic Johnson and Bryant did come to Buss as rookies and grow from there into stars and ultimately legends.

But the slow play is not the preferred Laker way—and it especially isn’t when Jim Buss has pledged to resign as head of basketball operations if the Lakers aren’t in the Western Conference Finals by 2018.

The Lakers have understandably sought to maximize first O’Neal and then Bryant as veteran superstars whose championship windows would not last forever, and they all profited from that approach. The best-laid plans, however, to have Chris Paul or Dwight Howard in place as the next veteran superstar to anchor the roster fell through, though, and you see the dark downside of the Laker way today:

Unable to acquire and keep the next star, the Lakers instead had to be OK totally striking out. Bryant had to be OK with Jeremy Lin being the Lakers’ big offseason acquisition, and Lin only came because Houston offered a first-round pick for the Lakers to take him and his salary.

Consequently, the Laker way is now a starting lineup of Jordan Clarkson, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Kelly, Jordan Hill and Robert Sacre—because management has refused to settle for contact hitting and mere respectability, waiting for the long ball.

As the Lakers move forward again in the rebuilding process, there remains no safety net—and additional high-wire pressure because Jim Buss knows fans and his siblings alike are questioning his leadership.

The truth is that Jim, in a role that evolved from advisory to authority even before his father’s death in 2013, itched to spend money even more freely than Jerry over the past decade in pursuit of victory. That largesse is only the first in a list of priorities in the Lakers’ plan to get back on top.

 

Free Agency

Unfortunately for Jim, spending freely isn’t what it once was for large-market NBA clubs in this era of collective bargaining and profit sharing. And with the NBA’s rich new national TV contract beginning in 2016, almost every team is confident about having money to offer.

The Lakers are in position to offer more than $20 million to free agents this summer—although what they commit in 2015 affects how much they’d be able to offer free agents in 2016, when Bryant’s league-leading $25 million salary comes off the books and they expect to enjoy a real shopping spree.

Even if top unrestricted free agents such as Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan, Greg Monroe and Rajon Rondo (or restricted free agents Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green) don’t want to come to the Lakers or switch teams at all this summer, the Lakers do plan on upgrading the roster in some meaningful way. It is imperative to show some roster progress next season to set the table to sell Kevin Durant and others in 2016.

Regardless, the Lakers’ main sales technique is that they have more to offer than just money—or even sunshine.

You want more than those not-even-close-to-Marcin-Gortat 386,208 All-Star votes you just got as a Cavalier, Kevin Love? How about your whopping 58,200 votes from being part of the Clippers‘ Big Three, DeAndre Jordan?

There’s nothing like being a Lakers superstar and the opportunities it provides, that’s the pitch. In just his first year with the Lakers—and as a bench player on a 27-55 team—Nick Young scored Iggy Azalea.

And if free agents are serious about cashing in and winning later, they have to admit that the Lakers are happy to pay heavy luxury taxes in the future to increase the winning odds.

 

Draft…or Trade

As much as fans are focused on the Lakers losing enough to keep a top-five 2015 draft pick that otherwise would have to be conveyed to Phoenix from the Steve Nash trade, the reality remains that the Lakers aren’t about waiting for a bunch of kids to grow up.

So, yes, keeping the pick is a big deal—but it very well might be more important as a trade asset than for some raw talent who almost surely will be just finishing his freshman year in college. The Lakers also likely will get Houston’s 2015 first-round pick from the Lin salary dump, but it won’t be any higher than 15th.

Whereas Boston can’t expect a free-agent bonanza and is hoarding draft picks as its primary means of rebuilding via youth or eventual trade, the Lakers see this draft stuff as supplementary.

Jim Buss doesn’t have time to wait for Julius Randle to get healthy and steadily evolve into someone who can lead the Lakers. That makes Randle either a supporting player to help incoming free agents—or a promising prospect, one the Lakers truly believe, to be flipped in a trade for greater immediate potential.

Bryant, for one, believes Mitch Kupchak‘s trade acumen will play a key role in this.

“It’s phenomenal, so much so that the league had to protest a trade that he made,” said Bryant, referring to the 2011 deal for Paul that was aborted. “He pulled that off and saved money? What other GM could pull that off? You’ve kind of got to lean on the track record of the front office and the decisions that they make.”

Thing is, what does Kupchak have to trade these days? Expiring contracts aren’t nearly as attractive as they used to be, so there’s not much—even when it comes to future picks.

If the Lakers do keep their pick this June, they have to give the Suns their 2016 first-rounder (as long as it’s not in the top three). The Lakers also owe Orlando their 2017 first-rounder (as long as it’s not in the top five) from the Howard trade.

That means the Lakers wouldn’t have much additional young talent coming in to join Randle and the incoming rookie in a group rebuild anyway.

Packaging that 2015 top-five pick, if the Lakers keep it, in a trade for a high-level player Buss and Kupchak deeply believe in would be an ideal way to hasten the rebuilding process.

 

Develop Existing Talent

Randle will recover from his just-to-be-safe January foot surgery before his broken leg from opening night heals. He might be on the court by May—and the Lakers hope ready for NBA summer league. Tarik Black, Clarkson and Kelly are young guys the Lakers really hope show significant growth the rest of this regular season.

Young, 29, has a golden opportunity to show he can do a lot of what Bryant does and establish his Lakers future, as Byron Scott doesn’t intend to overhaul his offensive system in the wake of Bryant’s absence. If Young does prove something to the league, it could also give Kupchak a trade chip; Young is under contract through 2018 with a trade-friendly salary at just more than $5 million, about the mid-level exception.

One player the Lakers would be wise not to let show too much growth is power forward Ed Davis, 25. He almost surely will opt out of his $1.1 million salary next season, and even though he’s limited, Davis might actually be the Lakers’ most valuable player now that Bryant is out.

The Lakers would be fortunate if they’re able to retain Davis, who hasn’t been getting abundant playing time lately, without other clubs realizing how useful he is.

 

Rebuild the Brand

You can count on Lakers president Jeanie Buss to be all over this one.

Ninety minutes after the Lakers announced on Monday that Bryant would have rotator cuff surgery, they announced they would be heading off to Honolulu for happy days during 2015 training camp. The Lakers have a large fanbase in Hawaii but in 2007 discontinued their semi-annual tradition of going over in October.

When you consider Bryant will have played just 41 games in a two-year span—and none in a three-year stretch of NBA playoffs—there’s reason to wonder about fans losing interest. But the NBA fan map released by Twitter earlier this month was a testament to the Lakers’ ongoing local and national popularity.

The Clippers, despite their contending status, were not the most popular team in any county in the United States—and didn’t even crack the top three in Orange County or San Diego County, where it was almost all Lakers, followed by the Spurs and the Bulls. In Los Angeles County, it was Lakers 50 percent, Clippers seven percent.

The Lakers intend to lean on all their past success so that fans don’t readily forget. They’ll keep bringing in former players and celebrating what once was, including Scott as head coach.

That whole business side is a foundational element of the big sales pitch to free agents—and those free agents are the whole key to the Lakers’ basketball side regaining its glory.

 

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.

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