What happens if the Lakers want Kobe Bryant to hold up? (USATSI)
At a media meeting with Los Angeles Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak Friday, Kupchak told reporters that the plan for this season does include management of Kobe Bryant's body, including minutes restrictions and possibly games.
Kupchak says there will be "management" of Kobe's minutes, maybe even games played. Says Byron Scott will have the final call.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) September 26, 2014Both Kupchak and Byron Scott have said that Bryant looks to be in incredible shape. But he's 36 and coming off two major leg injuries. The Lakers have him at over $24 million per year for the next two years. They've got to keep him on the court.
Whether Byrant takes to that kind of restriction will be the question. Scott has the support of Bryant, who lobbied for him publicly during the offseason. But anyone telling Bryant when to come out doesn't work very often, and Bryant's competitiveness is obsessive. It's just not something he's good at, keeping himself back. He'll want to prove something, to the world and to himself. This is a storyline worth keeping track of as the season goes on.
Basketball Hot News
Aron Baynes re-signs with Spurs for one year
When Eric Bledsoe re-signed with the Suns, Aron Baynes became the last free agent with an outstanding qualifying offer.
The Spurs waited as Baynes explored overseas options. They considered signing Gustavo Ayon as a replacement. They discussed a sign-and-trade.
And finally, they got a deal done.
Marc Stein of ESPN:
Shams Charania of RealGM:
Baynes gives the Spurs 14 of 15 players back from last year’s championship team, the only difference being rookie Kyle Anderson replacing Damion James, who signed with the Wizards.
In addition to those 15 players with guaranteed contracts, San Antonio also has JaMychal Green ($60,000 guaranteed), Bryce Cotton ($50,000 guaranteed) and Josh Davis ($20,000 guaranteed).
At one point, I thought there was a chance the Spurs would waive Baynes if he accepted the qualifying offer in order to keep one of those three. But considering they offered him more than his qualifying offer ($1,115,243), there are strong indications they want to keep him.
The Spurs even exceeded the max they could pay Baynes through early bird rights ($1,380,526), meaning they dipped into the mid-level or bi-annual exception. The bi-annual exception is worth $2,077,000, so – if Stein is rounding – it’s possible Baynes took that. However, that would prevent San Antonio from using it next summer. Considering they probably have no use for the mid-level exception at this point, the Spurs probably paid Baynes through that.
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