L.A. Lakers: 6 Offseason Moves to Extend Kobe Bryant's Title Window

Kobe Bryant is 33 years old, he has played over 42,000 minutes in the regular season and another 8,000 minutes in the playoffs.

It's really hard to say how long it's going to take for Kobe Bryant to really break down to the point where he is noticeably contributing less than he was in the previous season. The man plays through every injury possible and plays in every game possible.

Call him a competitor, call him tough, call him crazy, all that matters is that it's undeniable that he has been one of the most unbreakable players in the past decade, plus.

That leaves the question, how many more years will Kobe Bryant's title window be open? That is to say, how many more seasons will Kobe Bryant be on the level that he can be the guy who carries his team in a big game or continues to be one of the top 15 players in the game.

As hard as it is to imagine, there's going to come a time when Kobe is not the Kobe we know today. He's going to slow another step, he's going to become easier to defend and he's going to break down. When that happens he's either going to have to take a lesser role on a team or he's going to retire.

Nobody can come out and tell you how long his high level of play is going to last, because, quite frankly, we've never seen a player like Kobe Bryant. Nobody has ever come straight from high school and dominated the league like him.

However, we can take a look at the Lakers and figure out what they can do to extend that title window by taking the pressure off him to take games over.

The Lakers' Current Salary Situation

Here's the thing that should have every Lakers fan quaking in their boots for the future: The Lakers are in the most dire financial situation of any team in the NBA, and it's not really even that close.

After the Lakers exercise their option on Andrew Bynum (which they will), the Lakers will have roughly $79 million locked up for the 2012-13 season with nearly $63 million going to their top three guys.

This creates one doozy of a problem. The salary cap is most likely going to be around the same level next season as it was this season, which is right around $58 million. The luxury tax level will hover around $70 million as well.

Now, that's not going to create much of a problem this season, but in 2013-14 the real luxury tax penalties come into play and teams could end up paying triple the amount they're over the luxury tax line.

Los Angeles is going to have to extend Andrew Bynum (provided they don't trade him) past 2012-13, which will likely lead to a deal in the range of $19 million, which would mean the Lakers are nearly at $70 million between Bryant, Bynum and Gasol for the 2013-14 season. Every dollar they add beyond that is going to be taxed...hard.

It's likely they'd end up with a payroll of between $80-85 million, which would mean they'd be paying $2.50 for every dollar over the cap that they spend, which means between $25-37.5 million in taxes.

How much is Los Angeles going to be willing to pay in taxes?

Re-Signing Ramon Sessions

The Lakers learned this season that when not running the Triangle a point guard is more important to this team than it has been since Magic Johnson.

Ramon Sessions is no Magic, but he's a man who can control the tempo of the game, distribute the ball and score some points in bursts.

Sessions has a $4.5 million player option for next season, and it remains to be seen whether he thinks he's worth more than that or not. My money says he takes the player option and plays out the remainder of his contract before deciding whether or not to test the free-agency waters.

The main thing with the Lakers here, however, is that they keep their own players, as they're unable to spend money once over the salary cap unless it goes toward re-signing their own players.

Find a Good Scouting Team

The Lakers did a good job of getting a throw-in player with the Ramon Sessions trade with Cleveland by grabbing Christian Eyenga. He's a low-risk, moderate-reward player who they can throw on the bench for a year to see what he can do. If it doesn't work out they can cut ties.

However, the NBA has taken an interesting trend this season. The NBA's Development League is becoming more than a place for guys to wallow away for a few years before they fall out of basketball altogether.

This year the D-League saw call-ups at an all-time high, and as 25 percent of players are former D-League alums, the so-called "minor league" is as important as it's ever been.

I'm not saying they're going to find the next Kobe Bryant in the D-League, but they very well could find the next Ramon Sessions.

Target a Tough Mid-Level Exception Defender

The Lakers are going to be well over the tax-payer threshold this summer, which means their only salary cap exception will be the mini mid-level exception and any minimum contract guys they'd wish to sign.

That mini mid-level is worth $3 million per year with a three-year maximum deal, which means they could end up with an undervalued defensive machine.

Guys like that who are going to be available this offseason include Delonte West (who made just over $1 million last year), DeShawn Stevenson ($2.5 million last year) and Grant Hill ($6.5 million in 2012, but he could take a pay cut for a chance at a ring).

The mid-level exception is their only shot at getting a player who can impact a game on a regular basis, so it seems best to use on a consistent defender, rather than a guy who can come in and score from time to time.

Grab the Right Veterans

It seems like the best way to get value out of veteran players is to grab the ones who have whittled their career down to one specialized skill.

Take Vladimir Radmanovic, for example. Vlad isn't the sexiest name in the NBA, but he made 37 percent of his three-pointers this year, and that alone makes him worth the slightly more than $1 million that he made this year.

Then there are guys like Marcus Camby who have one foot out of the league and one foot hanging in. Camby's rebounding ability alone makes him worth a minimum contract were he to accept it.

Don't just go throwing around money to old guys because they used to be good. Give it to the guys who know they can do one or two things and focus directly on that.

Hang on to Metta World Peace

If money is no option for the Lakers, then holding onto Metta World Peace should be a good idea for them going forward.

Sure, he's making too much money for what he produces at over $7 million a year for the next two seasons, but he's not as bad a player as his stats showed this year.

The blogosphere will likely talk about World Peace being amnestied this summer, but what exactly does that do for the Lakers as a basketball team?

It saves the team $7 million next season and the following season (when he has a player option), but it doesn't get them under the luxury tax to the point where they would be able to use the full mid-level exception, meaning the only thing it does is save Jerry Buss a few bucks and completely gets rid of a player capable of playing all season long.

Then, if World Peace fails to contribute to a larger degree next season, they can hang onto him until the 2014 trade deadline where they can trade his expiring contract as cap relief to another team, which will be at a premium.

He's worth more to the front office if he's gone, but he's worth more to the team as a body on the floor and trade bait in the future. 

Dangle Pau Gasol

Pau Gasol has been a huge asset for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. There's no way to deny that. 

However, if the Lakers can get the right package for the fly-footed big man, there's no reason they shouldn't think about trading him.

Right now it seems that Andrew Bynum is the answer at center for the Lakers. He seems healthy and despite a few immaturity issues, he actually looks like he could compete with Dwight Howard for that top center spot in the coming years.

Trading Gasol, on the other hand, could mean addition by subtraction for the Lakers.

A team like Houston seems infinitely interested in Gasol, and if they're willing to give up Luis Scola, a good young player and a draft pick then it could be better for the Lakers to have two impact players rather than having just one super-impact player.

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