If Kobe Bryant wants a new contract, today's the deadline to ask

Where's Kobe Bryant?

Today is the last day for Bryant to terminate his contract and become an unrestricted free agent, but the Lakers hadn't received any notice as of Monday night from the NBA Finals MVP.

If Bryant wants to opt out of his contract, he needs to officially notify the Lakers via fax by the end of today. The Lakers declined to comment. Bryant's agent, Rob Pelinka, did not return a phone call.

Knowing Bryant's flair for the dramatic, it could be a wait-until-the-last-minute decision. It wouldn't be the first time.

As a free agent in 2004, he made the Lakers and Clippers wait until the last possible second before announcing he would sign a seven-year contract with the Lakers.

Five years later, he again has options.

If Bryant terminates the last two years of his contract, he will leave $47.8 million on the table but can sign a five-year deal with the Lakers worth $135 million.

Or he could play this season, pocket $23 million and opt out of his contract next season, at which point he could re-sign for four years and $112 million.

Detroit, Memphis and Oklahoma City are the only teams far enough under the salary cap to even contemplate signing Bryant to a five-year deal this summer, but they wouldn't be close enough to match Bryant's $23-million salary next season without shedding additional salaries.

Not to mention that Bryant wants to stay in Los Angeles, where the Lakers are coming off their first NBA championship since 2002 and are built to contend for at least the next few years.

Bryant, who will be 31 in August, averaged 32.4 points, 7.4 assists and 5.6 rebounds in the NBA Finals against Orlando earlier this month. He then dropped a sizable hint at the Lakers' championship rally at the Coliseum a few days after winning the title.

"Where am I going to go?" he said to cheering fans. "This is my home."

With free agency beginning at midnight on the East Coast, Bryant isn't the only thing occupying the Lakers' minds. They are also hoping to keep unrestricted free-agent forwards Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza in the fold. Reserve guard Shannon Brown is also an unrestricted free agent.

"Every free-agent period brings on uncertainty, this year in particular maybe more so than other years with the economy and the fact that we have three unrestricted free agents," Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said recently. "We'll have to make quick decisions and hopefully we can bring this team back intact."

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com