There was a time in my life when I became a Los Angeles Laker ... well the fanboy version. I can't pinpoint the exact moment, but I know for sure that it was around the time Kobe Bryant was rocking the relatively small fro'. Roughly around the same time Shaq had joined Kobe to form the lethal and poisonous combo that they became. It could simply be due to the fact that the Lakers were the first team I was exposed to in lil ol' New Zealand, which was probably due to the fact that they were pretty darn good. They became my team. It was a pretty easy road until recently, when your support is tested and you earn the right to call yourself a fan because you endure the hard times.

Like Julius Randle, the young man charged with being a large part of the Laker's new direction, I loved the Lakers because I love Bryant. He was my Michael Jordan because every discussion about MJ was somewhat mythical, while I had Bryant right before my eyes and all his attributes were live in full effect. 

So when Bryant kinda hamstrung the Lakers by taking so much money ($48.5mil) for 2 years recently, I didn't really know what to think. Here's my favourite player, messing up the future of my favourite team. Throw in to the mix that the great Dr Buss passed away in recent years and the two children of his who took the reigns didn't really set the world on fire with their dealings and you have a rather confused, slightly disenfranchised and sad Lakers fan.

In a 'perfect' world the Lakers may have pushed harder for a top 3 Draft pick to get either Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or Joel Embiid. But with this Draft being pretty deep, it basically came down to Marcus Smart or Julius Randle. This peaked my excitement for the Lakers' future. Smart is a bull, the sort of player who combines skill, athleticism and effort while Randle is a big man who averaged 15 points and 10.5 boards in his season with Kentucky. Either way, I was going to be happy. To end up with a player compared to Zach Randolph,  yup, nice.

This all kind of depends on the health of Bryant, but not as much as some would think. I think that's why the Lakers paid so much for Bryant who in theory has been very much a waste of money this past season. Whether Bryant plays or not, he'll be greatly able to influence Randle in terms of developing him as a person and a player. There's the possibility that the Lakers could be grooming Randle to become the man for the Lakers despite the fact they are always mentioned in Kevin Love/Carmelo Anthony/LeBron James/Any Big Time Player talks. Randle, much like the rest of this Draft class, isn't a diva or some one who thinks their shit don't stank. He'll be able to settle in to NBA life with little or no pressure thanks to Bryant still being around and the elephant in the room: which big player the Lakers will bring in. While Randle is the future of the franchise, there is so much else going on around the Lakers and the NBA that the pressure and expectation won't be over bearing for Randle.

The Lakers also picked up Jordan Clarkson, a guard out of Missouri with the 46th pick. While Randle will benefit from the mentorship + service from Bryant and Steve Nash, Clarkson will be the benefactor of having two of the best guards ever alongside him. 

All the talk of which top dawg player the Lakers will get their hands on, is interesting. If they go about their business smartly, there may not be a need. The only need for a big name will come from the 'we're the Los Angeles Lakers, do you know who the fuck we are!?' type of mentality. It's Hollywood, it's one of the biggest markets in America, one of the flashiest, one of the most glamorous and successful sporting franchises, ever. But this is a great opportunity for the Buss Family Trust and GM Mitch Kupchak to put their stamp on the Lakers, along with Bryant. 

Bryant is the type of player who has earned the right to have a large influence in major decisions ... even in minor decisions. His near 20 years of service to the Lakers allows him to have some sort of say and I dunno, I think I'm kind of hoping that he's like - 'we're all good, we don't need a big name, let's do this right and build the Lakers back to the top ... but we need some foundations.'

The Lakers have always and always will have an easy route, they can lure anyone to Los Angeles - weather, lifestyle, endorsements, history, etc. etc. But they are at a crossroads. Bryant is nearing the end of his NBA career but he'll be keen to continue to stay close to the Lakers (possibly why he got such big $$ on that 2 year deal) and they have a roster which is pretty much empty - a blank canvas for someone to work their magic on.

Besides Randle and Clarkson, only Bryant, Nash, Kendall Marshall and Robert Scare are contracted for next season. The only players guaranteed to return you'd have to think are Bryant and Nash so there are plenty of options for Kupchak to make some moves and build a team - not a few superstars but a genuine team.

How could we forget the other elephants in the room? Yes, there's a few. Pau Gasol could possibly return, that's a possibility given that things look to be changing and much of his frustrations came from the situation last year. If the Lakers can sell their direction, plans and development strategy to Gasol then he could be a chance of returning ... but neither Bryant, Gasol or Nash are young enough to want to rebuild. They want to win. They'd have to be the ultimate GC's to stick around to help the Lakers build from the ground up so I wouldn't expect Gasol to stick around, he'll go to a contender.

And they don't have a coach, yet. 

There's so much water to go under the bridge, with not much time for it to happen before the start of next season.

It will all be solved, whether sooner or later. The intrigue for me will keep me awake at night as well as distracting me from the game of NRL footy I'll be watching. It's a good intrigue, change is now in motion and we know the Lakers won't settle for another shit season where there's no real direction from the front office or one the court. It's just a wait and see game now. 

Until then I'll just watch Julius Randle's college highlights, then some of Steve Nash's gorgeous passes and afterwards I might just watch some Kobe Bryant highlights for the 100th time.