With 57.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter Kobe Bryant headed to the bench leaving the game scoring 42 points and his team being down 15, its safe to say, the torch has been pasted.
There is a major problem when Kobe Bryant scored 42 and you still get hammered. Many disagree with what I'm about to say, but I hope Bryant considers retirement despite having one year left on his contract. Bryant had a phenomenal 16th season averaging 27.9 points along with averaging 30.0 points in the playoffs. Bryant plays to win rings not games, and with the roster he'll be going to battle with season as of right now games will be all he wins. It hurts me to say this, but unless the Lakers make some drastic changes I don't see them making it out of the second round of the playoffs likely seeing Oklahoma City or San Antonio.
With Dallas more than likely going to land Deron Williams they'll be strong, Oklahoma City will be strong likely resigning Harden, as well as San Antonio with the way they have been playing this year. Those two teams alone are better than Los Angeles with Dallas up in the air depending on if that land Williams. Say what you want, but the Lakers struggled going seven games with a young Denver Nuggets team, with all of that youth and speed. The Lakers are an older team that needs youthful as well as quality talent.
Andrew Bynum, the kid who has so much potential without the mental stability has some definite value that the Lakers can shop. With his comments of "I'll play anywhere" shows that he doesn't care about the history and pride that goes into wearing the colors of purple and gold. With sources saying Dwight wants out of Orlando more than ever before, that might mean he could possibly land in LA for a year despite him saying he doesn't want to play there. Or you can try to steal Deron Williams from Dallas who are the odds on favorites seeing Williams is from Dallas. Whatever the Lakers decide to do they must make a splash whether its Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, or even James Harden.
GM Mitch Kupchak must makes some moves if Kobe wants to have any chance of winning a title in the last season of his contract. The Lakers also have to thank David Stern for setting them back three to five years on blocking the Chris Paul trade. I don't understand the moves of letting Shannon Brown walk, along with letting Lamar Odom go without getting anything in return. Those moves really hurt your team, as much as I like Steve Blake and Matt Barnes, their productivity was nowhere near what Brown and Odom brought coming off the bench. Pau Gasol is likely done with the Lakers after this season, leaving a void to fill which may become Jordan Hill's spot. Ray Allen would be an excellent choice, providing instant offense which is something the Lakers didn't have this year. As for Roman Sessions he must improve going forward, because he play this post season was not something that was impressive.
The Lakers have some serious moves to make this off season whether to keep Bynum or Gasol? Or maybe they'll make an attempt for Dwight Howard? What we do know is improving a bench that was awful to watch at times must be atop their list of concerns, along with bringing in some youthful quality talent going forward as well as for Kobe who will likely be playing his last season in a Laker uniform.
