Except that they never really had the chance to do that...assuming that Kobe was being brought back, they were never gonna be able to add 2 additional max players this summer...which is why I asked for a specific contract amount that would make this possible (you'd essentially have to ask kobe to play for free)...and moreover, there aren't even 2 max caliber players realistically available for them to sign in theory ...the list of max players the lakers can get pretty much ends and begins with Melo....and they still can sign him...all this hoopla over kobe's contract, and when you strip away all the vague conjecture and look at it in cold rational realistic terms..if he resigned at low of end of his possible realistic contract terms, you're freeing up an extra 3-5mil in capspace...enough to sign a sub mle type signing...surely not the type of player that makes the differnce between contending or not