The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Larry Lewis as a player development coach.

Lewis spent the past two seasons with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the D-League.

D’Antoni plans to hire two full-time assistants and one more player development coach.

The Los Angeles Lakers have not broached the possibility of a sign-and-trade of Dwight Howard in the team's in-house discussions.

The Lakers and Howard have maintained "A LOT" of dialogue with Howard's representatives since May, according to a source.

Howard will be a free agent in July.

The Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers had reportedly been linked as possible trade partners in a deal centering on Howard and Blake Griffin.

The Los Angeles Lakers have rebuffed overtures from the Los Angeles Clippers about a sign-and-trade for Dwight Howard.

Howard and Chris Paul have reportedly been in touch about the possibility of playing with each other next season.

"They will never do it," said a source on the Lakers' interest in working with the Clippers on a Howard trade.

Howard will be a free agent and the Lakers hope to re-sign him.

Sources have told ESPN's Marc Stein that the Clippers would want to trade Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe to the Lakers for Howard. 

Kobe Bryant wants to play at least two more seasons, according to a source.

Bryant is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon.

Bryant wants "two more cracks at it to win seven NBA titles at least."

Bryant is entering the final season of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Both the Lakers and Bryant prefer for him to remain with the franchise for the duration of his career.

The Lakers were planning on opening talks with Bryant on an extension as soon as they were allowed to under NBA rules, but his injury complicates the issue.

Phil Jackson conceded the chances of him returning to coaching are slim.

"Sometimes I feel I can still get out there and do it but the reality is I'm kidding myself," Jackson said on Wednesday.

Jackson said he returned for one final year with the Los Angeles in 2010-11 as a favor to the late Dr. Jerry Buss.

"When I was done I knew I was done -- physically it was over," he said.  "Even though after I got a knee replacement and a prostatectomy in the last year and a half."

Jackson reiterated that he's open to the idea of helping to shape an organization in the front office.

"[The Lakers are] going through crisis and if they ask me to come and sit and just listen to what's going on, I'm willing to do that," he said.  "As of right now there's not a position that's open there, in which to have an influence -- so I understand that."

Dwight Howard and Chris Paul have been in contact with each other in an effort to play for the same team next season, according to sources.

"They would love to play together if somebody can make it happen," one of the sources said.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers do not have the available cap space to allow Howard and Paul to team up. If the preference is to play together with the Clippers, they would have to acquire Howard via a sign-and-trade with the Lakers.

Sources say a trade package centered around Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe for Howard could be possible. Multiple sources insist Griffin is untouchable but he would almost surely be required for the Lakers to agree to a trade.

The Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks all have cap space, though acquiring both players would likely acquire both Howard and Paul to accept less than a full max contract. The Hawks would seemingly have the easiest path to sign both Howard and Paul under that scenario.

Howard has seemingly been uninterested in playing in his hometown of Atlanta.

Both Howard and Paul will be free agents for the first time in their careers this offseason.

Shaquille O'Neal has criticized Dwight Howard in the past and did so again on Tuesday when he said the Los Angeles Lakers' big man has been too nice in his career and must stiffen up.

"He's too nice," O'Neal said. "I'm a connoisseur of giggling and playing and all that and making you laugh and playing with the fans, but when I cross that line, I'm ready to tear your face off. I don't care who it is. You could put one of my aunts or uncles out there, and I'm going to give him these elbows in their chest and I'm going to throw it down in their face. That's what you have to do.

"He's just too nice. If I was him, I would get into the same mood I was in."

O'Neal said Howard has never reached out to him for advice and he does not want him to.

"He should have known all of this when he signed with L.A.," O'Neal said. "He should have known what he was getting into. My advice to him is to look pressure in the face and give it the one-two combination and knock it out."

Dwight Howard is open to signing a four-year deal this offseason, though he could sign for as many as five seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Howard is keen on becoming a free agent again to coincide with the NBA's new national television deals and potentially a new collective bargaining agreement.

Howard figures to have two more max contract deals in his career.

Kobe Bryant talked about the possibility of Tim Duncan tying him with five NBA titles.

"My goal is to win more than five," said Bryant. "If he does win five, hopefully that pushes our organization upstairs to be even more determined and more driven to make the necessary expenses to make sure we continue the next year and the year after that."

Bryant is confident the Lakers can compete for a title if Dwight Howard stays, but also indicated the team needs to add players with length and quickness.

"I'd love to see us pick up next season where we left off this season prior to these injuries," Bryant said. "We were playing some good basketball -- things were flowing. We'll have to make some adjustments in terms of getting a little longer, having a couple of guys on the floor who can cover ground, and cover ground quickly.  If we do those things, I like our chances."

Mitch Kupchak has not decided whether to use the Los Angeles Lakers’ one-time amnesty clause.

Metta World Peace has been floated as a possibly amnesty candidate.

“It's a tool that we're aware of,” Kupchak said. “We have not decided if we will use it. It's just a tool we know is available. We feel our players have value, but there is always a financial component to this business and the new collective bargaining agreement made some significant changes that we need to be aware of.”

The Lakers will try to improve via free agency this offseason, with just the mini-mid level exception at their disposal.

“Assuming our team next year is similar to the team it was this year, and also understanding that we have several free agents, probably the best way to improve this team would be through free agency, and even that's limited,” Kupchak said. “Hopefully you can use your mini-mid, but most of the time it will fall towards the (veteran's) minimum contracts, and you want to make good selections there. But you're not going to get really good, productive young players at a minimum salary. You'll end up getting the older player who's had a good career that's looking to contend for a championship, like Antawn Jamison last season.”

The Lakers have just Steve Nash on the books for the 2014-15 season, meaning the team will likely avoid the repeater tax that penalizes franchises that exceed the tax line in three of four seasons.

“It is within our control to avoid that, yes,” Kupchak said. “It's something that we did intentionally, where we have a lot of financial flexibility for that season.”