With the Los Angeles Lakers seemingly headed to the draft lottery, superstar Kobe Bryant's goal reportedly now is to surpass Michael Jordan in career points. Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler, meanwhile, provided updates on Philadelphia 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams and free agent Quincy Miller in regards to the Lakers.
Three weeks into the NBA season and the Lakers still have only one win. The talent-depleted roster gives Los Angeles little chance of not being a lottery-pick team, and with that in mind, Bryant reportedly is focused on scoring as many points as he can while his body is healthy.
"League source suggested to me Kobe is making sure he passes MJ in career points while he's healthy (and) once he does will settle into team ball," ESPN's Dave McMenamin tweeted Sunday night.
Bryant, who's averaging 27.3 points on 24 shots per game, has 31,973 career points - he needs just 320 more points to surpass Jordan's career number of 32,292.
Los Angeles' defense is suspect, but they also don't have enough talent around Bryant to score. Even once guard Nick Young returns from his finger injury, the Lakers will still be lacking in talent. Miller and Carter-Williams were two names linked to the Lakers, but Kyler doesn't believe either player will be headed to Hollywood any time soon.
Per Kyler:
"They have a Disabled Player exception and they have brought guys in - there is this media driven commentary that it has to be Quincy Miller, when the truth is the Lakers have talked to maybe a dozen guys and are having several of them in for workouts. They are in no hurry.
"As for (Carter-Williams) - this is how I explain it - Philly doesn't have anything yet. So everything is obtainable for the right price. They were looking at everything around the draft as a means to improve. They were not trying to offload Michael Carter-Williams, they were simply seeing if they could get a better asset for the future than what (he) is today. ...
"That said, (the 76ers) want the moon for their assets, and if you are thinking (Carter-Williams) in LA, they don't have the assets to get Philly off the dime."
Los Angeles seems even less likely to give up a bevy of assets for the second-year player when the upcoming free agency class could have a number of talented point guards, such as Rajon Rondo and Goran Dragic.
