Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant, The Offseason And The Future

March 25, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant (24) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Lakers 109-103. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Robert Sacre. Nick Young. Chris Kaman. Wes Johnson. Jordan Farmar. Elias Harris. Shawne Williams.

That is what the Los Angeles Lakers offseason has come to.

“But they’re just re-tooling”, right Lakers fans?

Wait, what? They just signed Xavier Henry too? Championship.

You literally can’t make this up. I’m not saying these are dumb moves (well actually I am), but these are not “Lakers” moves. At least, not according to the way their fans have been running their mouths.

I mean, yeah. The Lakers still have Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant on the roster, but how long will they cling to that combo? It’s been a quick six years.

Apart from that, how long will they keep relying on Kobe’s last legs – not very long. They can’t. Not because Kobe wants to move on or anything, but because Kobe has less in the tank than many want to believe.

The Black Mamba is now 35.

The last thing that the Lakers need to do is keep building around Kobe. Especially, with the type of free agent class next summer is expected to bring.

The summer of LeBron 2.0.

Also, the summer of :

The Lakers need to do everything in their power to move on. I’m not kidding. They can’t afford to pay Kobe top dollar when he’s not going to be deserving of it in a year or two.

Who knows how he’s going to look, coming off his worst injury of his career. If another superstar wants to come in, and doesn’t want to play with Kobe, they need to oblige to said superstar.

You’ll probably throw every statistic at me, saying that Kobe hasn’t started to decline yet. You’re right, he hasn’t. But, see, the thing is that the special teams (which the Lakers are) are the one’s that have the ability to see the future before others.

When it comes to Kobe, I just have a feeling that he’s going to have to be dragged off the court, so to say, when it’s all said and done.

Do the Lakers want to be the team that’s going to have to do that – and possibly be set back another 3-to-4 years after that?

Dwight Howard said one of the biggest reasons why he left LA was because he didn’t want to have to deal with Kobe for another handful of years. According to Nelly, not many other NBA players want to either.

I’m not sure if Nelly has any leeway here, but he could.

I’m not saying Kobe’s done, because he’s not. I’m just saying, be careful what you wish for Lakers fans. Be careful.

All you have to do is ask yourself: In three years, is Kobe going to be the focal point of this ball club?

If that answer is yes, that is not good. Not at all.

And with moves like what I mentioned above, it really looks that way. LA, you better hope a big fish wants you next summer. You better hope.