LA Lakers Notebook: Post-Kobe Bryant Era Brings Hope, Clarity for Mitch Kupchak

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers were miserable last season, slogging through Kobe Bryant’s farewell campaign with a paltry 17-65 record. Since replacing the departed Byron Scott, rookie coach Luke Walton has begun a change of culture.

Collectively, the team believes it’s now on the right path, but it’s early October—the most optimistic time of the NBA year, when every team buys into the blank slate without a single blemish in the loss column.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up training camp in Santa Barbara, California. Like the 29 other NBA teams, they felt like they had a positive, productive first week.

“The music, new faces, new coaching staff—everybody is different. Everything is different,” second-year guard D’Angelo Russell said. “It’s a whole new vibe.”

“I think it’s been a good training camp, a lot of energy. The players seem to be responding,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “Obviously, there’s a new system, new coaches.”

The Lakers seemed enthusiastic through last season’s training camp, before their disaster of a season. What is different this time around?

“I think we have more players that we’re committed to this year than we have in the last year or two,” Kupchak said. “Every year, for the last two or three years, we didn’t know if Kobe was going to make it through the season. We got players on one-year deals, trying to get to a certain point.

“Here we are. We find ourselves with a completely new team with about six players that we’ve drafted over the last two or three years,” he continued. “They are young and talented, and we’ve also made commitments to some free agents that we think will be with us for a while.”

The Lakers are excited to see young players such as Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., Ivica Zubac and Russell develop.

Kupchak is also hopeful that long-term investments in veterans Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov will pay dividends. Both signed four-year deals in July, with the 31-year old Deng earning $72 million and Mozgov, 30, at $64 million.

While their contracts are not cheap, the Lakers still project to have enough salary-cap space next summer to sign a maximum-salaried free agent.

In recent years, the Lakers have seen veterans such as Roy Hibbert, Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer come and go, after just a single season each. Now the team, Deng and Mozgov are all committed to building a long, successful relationship.

“Luol has been a terrific lead-by-example guy. He’s the first one in here every day. Every team would love to have somebody like that,” Nance said. “Timo is awesome for our bigs, especially [rookie center] Zubac. Those two are going to be fun to watch.”

“For me, it’s an exciting time—not only playing basketball but also to be in a position to lead a younger group of guys,” said Deng, who played last season with the Miami Heat. “It’s a new beginning. It’s a new system that I really like [from what I’ve seen]. I think I’ll enjoy playing for Luke a lot. The guys in the locker room have just been amazing—beyond basketball—just to be around.”

Walton has indicated he will start both vets, with Mozgov replacing Hibbert at center and Deng at small forward instead of the retired Bryant.

On Sunday, Walton told the Southern California News Group (h/t the Orange County Register’s Mark Medina) that Mozgov will serve as a defensive anchor for the team and is “the best in the league at his verticality and protecting the rim.”

Will the Lakers be as successful on the court this season as their optimism suggests?

According to Odds Shark, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook …

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