Commentary: Kupchak, Lakers



So Mitch Kupchak, how's your summer going?

Ah, nothing like a little offseason hullabaloo to really make you really appreciate a nice Caribbean cruise.

Kobe Bryant, most talented player on the planet, has called out Kupchak like he was ready to go one-on-one at the local playground.

Wants the team revamped and overhauled, or at least seriously upgraded. Either that or he wants out, or he doesn't, but that's another confusing story.

The bad news for Kobe Bryant, I think, is that Kupchak seems pretty happy with the modest moves made thus far in the offseason.

"If this was the team that we started the season off with, I would be fine with it," Kupchak said. "I feel that we're an improved team over last year."

This falls under the "eyes of the beholder" category, the most significant pair of peepers belonging possibly not to General Manager Kupchak nor owner Jerry Buss, but Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.

Based on what Kobe Bryant said back in the days when he was talking and talking about the subject, the Lakers' offseason moves are unlikely to have appeased his demands. Kobe Bryant has seen this one-and-out playoff routine for two years running, recognized his athletic mortality and demanded a significant team upgrade.

Along the way, our frustrated superstar ripped Kupchak, Buss, an unnamed Lakers insider who claimed Kobe Bryant was responsible for forcing the trade of Shaquille O'Neal, 19-year-old center Andrew Bynum and an equipment manager for failing to use enough fabric softener.

Thus far, Kupchak and the Lakers have responded by signing veteran point guard Derek Fisher, re-signing Chris Mihm and Luke Walton, and selecting point guard Javaris Crittenton with the 19th pick.

Kupchak figures you throw in a dose of health that escaped the team last season and the natural progression of young players like Ronny Turiaf, Jordan Farmar and Andrew Bynum, and you have an improved team.

"I look at our team and look at a very balanced team with veteran and young players," Kupchak said.

Alas, the NBA has not been left shaking at this mini-makeover. It hardly seems of championship caliber and it's unlikely our man Kobe Bryant has been throwing any celebratory parties down at Newport Beach.

The opportunity to improve a team dwindles during the course of the offseason. The draft concludes. Free agents are signed. Trades are consummated. The pool of available players naturally shrinks.

And here are your new Lakers. Pretty much like your old Lakers. Which is not what most fans hoped for after Kupchak's postseason comments and the additional pressure brought on the front office by Kobe Bryant.

"I do feel there is more pressure or more expectations to dramatically change this team," Kupchak said. "My season-ending comments were that we were going to be more aggressive than we normally are. That's a byproduct of the season ending the way it did.

"But having said that, we're not going to do deals or sign players just to do it. We're going to do things we feel are going to improve the team. We feel that our team as it is structured right now, is improved over last year."

There has been no dramatic change to the Lakers, though, so come next month's training camp things could become extremely interesting.

Kobe Bryant's favorite mouthpiece, ESPN.com's Ric Bucher, has already floated the possibility that Kobe Bryant may skip camp.

This seems at great odds with Kobe Bryant the grand competitor. It should be noted, however, he is renowned for his fabulous work ethic and traditionally spends offseasons in early morning practice sessions at the team's El Segundo facility.

And he hasn't practiced there once this offseason.

Kobe Bryant's front-office outlook probably wasn't brightened after all those starry rumors of a Kevin Garnett trade to the Lakers, only for the dynamic forward to be dealt from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics.

"I think you could say 29 teams in the NBA today are looking at Boston and saying, `Wow, is that something they could have done and how much better are they going to be?' " Kupchak said.

"Cleary that's the deal of the offseason. Without talking about a particular player in this league, I know how much time we spent on being aggressive this summer. I know as an organization we did everything we could do to do a deal that would improve the team.

"You can't will a deal to take place. It takes two teams, sometimes more. Nobody really knows besides the owner and general manager, but the question you ask is: Did you do everything you could do to procure a certain player?

"If you're comfortable with the answer, you move on. And I am."

That doesn't, of course, mean Kobe Bryant has been left happy this summer.

"I'm not going to get into those types of questions," Kupchak said.

Naturally, the NBA offseason is not over. The Lakers trade rumor of the moment is again Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal.

Still, this O'Neal is not the same caliber player as Garnett. Plus, he has $63 million coming the next three years, a recent history of injuries and another ex-Celtics GM (Larry Bird) who would rather lick French tar than help the Lakers.

These current Lakers may very well be the Lakers who go to camp in Hawaii. Those willing, of course.

"Just because there hasn't been a dramatic trade in July, doesn't mean there won't be one down the road," Kupchak said. "We're only going to look to do something that is going to improve the team. We don't want to go sideways. And certainly we don't want to go backwards just because there are `expectations and pressure.' "

Meanwhile, the summer and significant players, goes by. While the franchise superstar probably seethes and a fascinating autumn awaits.

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