Everything that could go right this offseason, apart from signing a household name in free agency, has gone right for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Everyone - from Kobe Bryant to Nick Young to 2014 first-round pick Julius Randle - arrived at training camp relatively healthy, and ready to revive the "Showtime" Lakers. Or at least try to.
Just look at this behind-the-back pass from Randle to Bryant during Thursday night's exhibition game. There aren't many bigs limber enough to pull it off, especially at 20 years of age and coming off a season-ending knee surgery. His youth and frailty below the waistline - Randle waited until this past June to have surgery on a foot injury suffered in high school - heeds cautious optimism that he'll last an entire NBA campaign.
But Randle, nor any other Laker, will generate daily headline like Bryant. Not with the "Black Mamba," Los Angeles' salvation longer before some players could Crayola their names, draped in purple and gold for at least one more title run.
The front office sees his return as a limited time offer; one last chance to profit from nostalgic fans that otherwise stay away from Staples Center as if they won raffle tickets to a mid-aughts Clippers' game. Anything past year hinders the team's growth. At least that's what anonymous NBA insiders believe.
ESPN's Baxter Holmes interviewed 24 sources, ranging from team executives to agents, and found a single person who thought the Lakers "should definitely bring Kobe back" in 2016. The others said Los Angeles should either let Bryant walk away or wait and see how his 37-year-old legs hold up.
"If Bryant remains healthy? Then, the insiders said, the Lakers should dream up offers, light on cash and playing time and heavy on mentoring, designed to push Kobe out without looking like it," Holmes wrote. His sources warned of potential downsides to severing ties with Bryant, including financial repercussions, fan backlash, and a power struggle within the organization.
There was a time when Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak could sidestep these concerns. He could justify giving Bryant a two-year, $48.5 million well above the league average; this year Bryant earns an even $25 million, or about 60 percent of Portland's payroll.
That's an exorbitant amount for guy who's played a combined 41 games since 2013. When healthy, he was averaging 18.1 points and just under six assists per game in the span. Like Randle, age and Bryant's injury-prone body are enough for cautious optimism.
It was enough for ESPN analysts to nearly write him off completely, listing the five-time NBA champion as the league's 93rd ranked player. According to Holmes, an ESPN Forecast panel based their decisions on quality of play and quantity of time expected on the court. Bryant placed 25th in 2013 and 40th last year.
"I don't need to defend that [ranking]. Nobody does, really," Bryant said following the Lakers' 105-97 loss to Toronto on Oct. 8, later referring to the rankings as "silly" and the 101-member panel as "a bunch of idiots."
Holmes' inside sources are justified in saying the Lakers are better off without Bryant, just like ESPN analysts give sound reason for the low ranking. It's up to Bryant to sway perception.
For his benefit, and that of the Lakers, Bryant has to do it in the next eight months.
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