The last of the Lakers completed their exit meetings Friday with their coach and general manager, but not before providing a triple-barrel blast of hope for the future as everybody went their separate ways for the summer.
Kobe Bryant re-emphasized that he would return to the Lakers, Coach Phil Jackson said he would too if a series of upcoming medical tests went well, and General Manager Mitch Kupchak said he was "hopeful" that unrestricted free-agent forwards Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza would be back.
Still basking in the glow of the franchise's 15th championship, the Lakers peered into the future and universally liked what they saw.
Bryant can terminate his contract and look at other teams as an unrestricted free agent, though he said he would be back next season, following up on his Wednesday afternoon declaration at the championship rally that Los Angeles "was my home."
"I'm not going anywhere," he said Friday. "I know I ain't going nowhere. It just wastes our breath just talking about it. Let's talk about Trevor and Lamar and the importance of bringing them back."
Bryant, who will be 31 in August, is under contract for two more years and $47.8 million, though he could rip up that contract and sign a new one for five more years and about $135 million.
Jackson and Kupchak spoke optimistically that Ariza and Odom would return to the Lakers after free agency begins July 1.
"I think the one thing that bodes well for both parties is that we would like to try and get that done," Kupchak said. "Unless the players have misled me and Phil and the rest of the people that you [media] guys represent, they want to come back. So that's a good thing."
Ariza made $3.1 million this season and could move up to an average annual salary of $7 million or $8 million. Odom was on the Lakers' books for $14.1 million and will probably have to drop down to an average annual salary of $9 million or $10 million.
The Lakers paid $7.1 million in luxury taxes this past season, a number that could double or triple if Odom and Ariza were signed. The Lakers have already committed $74 million toward next season's payroll, a number that could swell to $90 million or more, not including a luxury-tax penalty in the neighborhood of $20 million.
