The Lakers rolled uneasily through their final day of exit meetings, as Kobe Bryant reiterated his increasing frustration and General Manger Mitch Kupchak suggested that only one player was considered untouchable for off-season trade talks -- the same player prodding upper management to improve the team.
Still simmering after the Lakers' first-round loss to Phoenix, Bryant voiced another degree of dissatisfaction during meetings Friday with Kupchak and Coach Phil Jackson, an unhappiness he later repeated publicly with such firmness that it made his blunt postgame appeal Wednesday ("Do something, and do it now") look like a minor request.
"I just told [Kupchak] this summer's about getting us to an elite level, doing whatever it takes to make it happen," Bryant said. "This is a competitive city. We're used to winning titles, not just winning games and being in the first round. We want to win championships. Now's the time.
"That's one of the things when I re-signed here, they promised they would build a contender and build a contender now. I don't want to have to wait any more than I already have."
The Lakers haven't won a playoff series since beating Minnesota in the 2004 Western Conference finals.
Bryant, who will turn 29 in August, has a no-trade clause in his contract for at least one more season and remains the franchise's cornerstone, which means the Lakers will try to surround him with more talented pieces. He has four years and $88.6 million left on his contract but can terminate his deal after the 2008-09 season and leave two years and $47.8 million on the table, an unlikely event.
Kupchak, asked if every Laker was available in trade talks this off-season, singled out the one obvious selection and left others unmentioned.
"We're going to build the team around Kobe," Kupchak said.
That left 19-year-old center Andrew Bynum and oft-injured but productive forward Lamar Odom on the unprotected list.
It won't be easy to change the look of the Lakers, even though Bryant said his patience was currently "about as short as my 1-year-old daughter."
If the yet-to-be-determined salary cap is placed at $55 million next season, the Lakers would already be $3.4 million over it, meaning the only notable free-agent tool at their disposal would again be the mid-level exception, worth about $30 million over five years and offered to all teams that are over the salary cap. (The Lakers can sign free agent Luke Walton without affecting their cap status.)
