It hasn't been the best offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers. The team lost Dwight Howard in free agency, and Kobe Bryant's health is uncertain as he continues to rehab from his Achilles' surgery. Despite the gloomy outlook for this season, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak insists the team isn't going to tank.
Kupchak spoke with the L.A. Times on Monday and discussed a range of subjects. First, he addressed the loss of Howard in free agency.
"It wasn't a surprise. I had a feeling that Houston was a frontrunner, and whenever a player is an unrestricted free agent, anything can happen," Kupchak said. "Clearly we wanted to keep him here in Los Angeles, and I felt we did everything we could do within reason to show we did want to keep him here.
"Until the end, I kept up hope. I think we were persistent as we could be within reason. I wasn't shocked but I was disappointed."
Even with the uncertainty of the season around the corner, Kupchak is adamant the team isn't going to tank on purpose for a higher draft pick.
"That's never a plan here with our fan base, to throw in the towel before the season begins. We always try to win, and that's what we're going to do this year.
"We have challenges. There's no doubt. We don't know when Kobe's coming back, and we don't know what level he's going to come back at, although we're optimistic. Everything's good with Steve [Nash]. Pau [Gasol] should be fine. We've added some athleticism. We're hopefully putting ourselves in position where we can compete in every game."
Gasol is recovering from postseason surgery to decrease tendon pain in both knees, and Nash couldn't finish the playoffs last season because of residual issues from his broken left leg.
"I spoke to Pau about two weeks ago for 45 minutes. He said he feels a lot better than he did a month ago. He was optimistic that he'd be ready for training camp. He does plan on playing three or four more years, and there's no reason why he shouldn't with his skill level.
"We saw Nash out here last week. If I had to guess, he feels he's in the 90th-percentile of where he wants to be. We still have two more months."
After this season, Nash and Robert Sacre are the only players on Los Angeles' books with guaranteed contracts, potentially setting the team up to make a big splash in free agency next summer - LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay all potentially become free agents.
As difficult as this season might be, Kupchak is confident in the team's chances next summer of landing a big-name free agent.
"We do feel Los Angeles is a destination spot," he said. "We have complete confidence in the organization, the city, our fan base, that we would be considered as a destination for players in the future. So we're hopeful going forward that the flexibility that we have will be beneficial."
