The Los Angeles Lakers will finally begin the post-Kobe Bryant phase this summer. With Bryant retiring after a remarkable 20-year career, the Lakers will strangely have a new identity.

The Lakers have never been big on long rebuilds. They’ve only struggled for a year or two previously in franchise history, but the current three-year slide is the longest stretch of losing since the early 1960s. The prior two seasons were wrecked by injuries, while this year was devoted to the Kobe Bryant farewell tour. Despite the recent struggles, the Lakers have the tools to bounce back quickly. 

Armed with loads of cap space, the Los Angeles market, a tentpole franchise and some exciting young talent, the Lakers will be mentioned in conjunction with every major free agent and every star on the trade market. To truly turn this franchise around, there are several areas the Lakers needs to focus upon.

First, they need to decide if Byron Scott is the coach to lead this team into the next phase of contention. Or is he just the stopgap during the rebuild? Scott’s track record of developing young talent has been mixed to say the least. This season he’s pulled both D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle in and out of the starting lineup. They’ve also played inconsistent minutes for stretches of time. As the two most promising young players on the roster, Russell and Randle should have been playing as many minutes as they could handle. Determining if Scott stays or goes should be mixed with making sure he plays Russell and Randle in the coming season.

Determining if Russell or Randle are truly pieces worth building around is a major concern as well. Both players are still seen as assets around the league and are on Rookie Scale contracts, so the Lakers should be able to deal them if they can acquire a win-now star. If the Lakers were to package some combination of Russell, Randle and their draft pick, they could trade for a star player; similar to the deal the Cavaliers made for Kevin Love.

If the Lakers choose to build around Russell and Randle, they need to make sure whatever players they chase in free agency are good fits. Russell has played better in the second half of his rookie season, showing the ability to score himself and make plays for his teammates. Randle, in what is essentially his rookie season, has been up and down. He’s been more consistent in the second half as well, and you can see the potential that had teams excited when he was drafted.

Having building blocks at the key positions of point guard and power forward, should allow the Lakers to go in almost any direction at the draft. They are hoping to get either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram. Either would pair well with Russell and Randle. Simmons can be the secondary playmaker, while Ingram should be a go to scorer. Should the Lakers fall to the third pick, they could look to trade it for immediate established help or draft Dragan Bender. Bender could be a nice frontcourt partner for Randle. Dropping out of the top-3 entirely would be a disaster as that pick would then be conveyed to Philadelphia and the losing this year would have been for naught.

Added to Russell and Randle are several restricted free agents for the Lakers to make decisions on. The easiest of the bunch should be Jordan Clarkson. He’s shown the ability to be a good combo guard who can start, or be the first guard off the bench for a contender. The challenge is, with so much available money this summer, a team may throw an offer at Clarkson that might force the Lakers to think twice about matching. Losing Clarkson without receiving any assets in return would be a minor disaster after the Lakers have developed him from questionable prospect into a legitimate rotation player. 

Other RFAs to make decisions on are Tarik Black, Marcelo Huertas and Ryan Kelly. Over time all three have had moments where you could see them as contributing bench pieces for a contender. The Lakers will likely issue all of them Qualifying Offers and see how the summer plays out. If they need the additional cap space, they can let them walk without issue.

Looming over the above is that developing young talent and high draft picks are great strategies for most team, but these are the Lakers. The Lakers don’t expect to just be good, they expect to be contenders. If the next star isn’t currently on the roster, the Lakers will go get him through trade or free agency. Kevin Durant, Al Horford and Mike Conley will all get calls. And it is likely the Lakers will get a cursory meeting with all of them. The Lakers could give RFA Andre Drummond a max contract offer and force the Pistons to match. They could do the same for Harrison Barnes and force the hand of division rival Golden State. If Kevin Love becomes available via trade, expect the Lakers to be involved. It’s the same story with Carmelo Anthony, who the Lakers strongly pursued in 2014 when he was a free agent. If any other big name is made available for trade, expect the Lakers to at least inquire on them as well. 

Two injury ravaged years as an excuse for getting high picks and having Kobe's ceremonial final season have been nice distractions. But the Lakers are about winning. The jobs of Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss will be in danger if there isn’t serious progress towards becoming title contenders again. A slow steady build doesn’t really work for a fanbase that treats championship runs as their birthright. Expect the Lakers to be in on everyone who comes available. Whether those players are in on the Lakers will be the big question.

Offseason Details

Guaranteed Contracts (6): Anthony Brown, Larry Nance Jr., Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Lou Williams, Nick Young

Partial/Non-Guaranteed Contracts (0): None

Potential Free Agents (9): Brandon Bass (PO – UFA), Tarik Black (RFA), Kobe Bryant (UFA), Jordan Clarkson (RFA), Roy Hibbert (UFA), Marcelo Huertas (RFA), Ryan Kelly (RFA), Robert Sacre (UFA), Metta World Peace (UFA)

“Dead” Money on Cap (0): None 

First Round Draft Picks (as of 3/18/16): #2 

Maximum Cap Space: $62,613,020.00

Projected Cap Space: $50,417,074.00