Kupchak: 'We cannot move on as a team until Kobe leaves'

The 2015-16 campaign for the Los Angeles Lakers - who sit dead last in the Western Conference with an 8-27 record - has become less about the on-court product and more about 17-time Kobe Bryant retiring from the league at the end of the season.

Even if the team was relatively successful in the standings, Bryant's inevitable departure following a legendary 20-year career would always take precedence over anything the Lakers would accomplish on the hardwood. His unofficial farewell tour has been a hot sell in opposing arenas across the NBA, with fans ponying up to get one final glimpse of "The Black Mamba."

Team general manager Mitch Kupchak has come to terms with the fact that the remaining 47 games will be all about Bryant, knowing full well that the Lakers can't truly move forward until the man responsible for helping bring five titles to the city is out of the picture.

"We cannot move on as a team until Kobe leaves," Kupchak said Sunday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Times' Eric Pincus. "Part of that to me is painful because I've been here 20 years with Kobe.

"This is a year that's dedicated to Kobe and his farewell. From my point of view, it gives me complete clarity. ... We know what our (salary) cap situation is going to be like."

With a little over $23 million in salary locked in for next season, the Lakers will have plenty of cap room to potentially make a splash in free agency, with the hope being that the right pieces can be brought in to accentuate the team's youthful core.

"We feel in the last two years that we've gotten at least five attractive young players," Kupchak said, referring to rookies D'Angelo Russell, Larry Nance, and Anthony Brown, along with sophomores Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle. "We're so much in a better spot today than we were a year ago. We didn't have that core."

The Lakers dug themselves into a hole by signing Bryant to a two-year, $48.5-million extension back in 2013, with his age and injury history not deterring management from offering such a gigantic sum. In 29 games this season, the 17-time All-Star has the highest usage rate on the team by far (30.9 percent), averaging 17.2 points on 34.1 percent shooting from the field and 25.9 percent from 3-point range.

Once Bryant retires, head coach Byron Scott, if he's still manning the sidelines at this time next year, can concentrate on expanding the roles of the likes of Russell and Randle - two players he's wavered on giving heavy, consistent minutes to.

Even as a marquee destination, there's no guarantee the Lakers will land a high-profile free agent next summer, making the development of its current crop of rising talent all the more vital for the future.