This year’s draft was supposed to be the rebirth of the Los Angeles Lakers brand. After Minnesota took Karl-Anthony Towns the Lakers were poised to land arguably the best center in the draft in Duke center Jahlil Okafor. It was a marriage made in basketball heaven, right? The Lakers and a dominant center. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.

But somewhere along the evaluation and interview process the Lakers’ top brass, which included team president Jim Buss, general manager Mitch Kupchak and head coach Byron Scott, felt Okafor didn’t fit the plan.

So, instead of taking the 6-11, 270-pound big man who some were calling “the next Tim Duncan,” the Lakers decided to use their No. 2 overall pick on Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell.

It was the draft day tremor that shook up the NBA. It seemed like everyone thought the Lakers were going to take Okafor. Well, everyone except the Lakers.

Kupchak has hinted for weeks that the Lakers were looking for a player who fits the new point-guard-driven style, and someone who can play multiple positions. Obviously Kupchak and the Lakers were glued to their TV screens during the playoffs, watching Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors driving, dishing and shooting their way to an NBA title.

The Warriors’ small ball style made such an impression on the Lakers that it made them re-evaluate a time-tested formula that you build your team inside-out and draft a center. L.A. ignored its championship history with big men — from Mikan to Wilt to Kareem to Shaq — and chose a guard with average foot speed and an inconsistent jumper.

Russell is a good player with some physical gifts. He’s a big point guard who can play off the ball and makes some nice passes. But he is also an average athlete who struggles against elite defenders. The one game that stuck out was his matchup against Arizona in the NCAA tournament. Russell was bottled up by T.J. McConnell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and went 3-for-19 from the field.

Despite some glaring weaknesses the Lakers are convinced Russell is the man to lead the franchise into the post-Kobe Bryant era. In fact, Scott believes “D’Angelo has a chance to be a superstar.”

“Talent-wise, he might be the best player in the draft,” Scott said of the 6-5 guard who turned 19 in February.

Scott said he was impressed by Russell’s second workout, where he displayed qualities such as leadership, shooting and passing.

“The decision that was made was to basically take the best player available,” Scott said. “We really felt this kid was special.”

It would have been different if Jerry West was the one evaluating the draft for the Lakers. But were are taking about Kupchak and Buss, and you can include Scott in the mix. None of them have West’s uncanny ability to scout talent.

Since West left the organization in 2002, the Lakers haven’t exactly hit the lottery with their draft picks. Remember Toney Douglas, Devin Ebanks and Javaris Crittendon? Those are names that’ll make any Lakers fan cringe.

Time will tell if the Lakers bungled the 2015 draft. Russell could turn out to be a solid NBA pro and enjoy a long career. But one thing he’ll never be is dominant. Great centers come around once every 10 years. You can find a really good point guard just about every year in the draft.

Go big or go home, right? That’s the NBA slogan. Apparently the Lakers missed that message.

Kobe Bryant’s first shot attempt of the 2014-15 NBA season was an airball. It wasn’t the type of result you’d expect from one of the 10 best players in the history of the basketball, but he is human after all. He played just six games last season because of a knee injury, and the year before that he suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

After the airball, Bryant came back to make his next three shots. Ah, there’s the Old Kobe.

Those first few minutes in the Lakers’ first preseason game against Denver in San Diego was a sign of what’s to come. Bryant may not have the same explosion and burst he once had at the height of his powers, but he’s still a very capable scorer. Instead of driving past defenders, he’ll post them up and shoot a Dirk Nowitzki-like fadeaway. Instead of pulling up from 25-feet, he’ll take a few dribbles, throw up a few pump fakes, and shoot from the elbows.

This is what Kobe, now age 36, refers to as the “old man” game. It’s the type of game you see on the YMCA with weekend warriors. It may not be pretty, but it’ll get the job done.

Bryant enters his 19th NBA season with a lot of questions. Can he still dominate? Can he play at an MVP-type level? Can he still be the Black Mamba?

“He’s in terrific shape. I think he’s gonna be great when the season starts,” Lakers coach Byron Scott told ESPN’s Colin Cowherd. Scott sees a different Kobe in training camp.

“He’s been a mentor for a lot of our young guys. He’s been very vocal, but he’s also been very encouraging,” Scott said. “He’s taken a different role. He understands this team is gonna need a lot of help from him.”

Scott and the Lakers coaching staff will try to save Bryant from himself as much as possible and watch his minutes, especially on back-to-back games. At least that’s the plan heading into the season. “It’s definitely something we have to be prepared for,” Scott said.

This is the first year of a four-year contract for Scott, a member of three world championship teams with the Lakers in the 1980s. He’s fully aware of the history of the franchise and what the Lakers brand is about. The brand has taken a huge hit the last couple of seasons under Mike D’Antoni, and it will be up to Scott to bring the swagger back to the purple and gold.

For the Lakers to have any chance to be successful this season, they’ll need Kobe to do what he does best: score points.

“I think he’s going to average 20,” Scott said. “He’s still going to be Kobe. He’s still going to average 20 to 22 points a game. Obviously, the minutes [will be down], but I still think he’s going to average 20 to 22 a game.”

Averaging 22 points per game for a 36-year-old NBA superstar is not out of the realm of possibility. Michael Jordan averaged 22.9 a game at age 38 in his first season with the Washington Wizards, and 20.0 in his last season at age 39.

Scott said Kobe looks in terrific shape and seems to be fully recovered from his injuries. Bryant hasn’t suffered any setbacks in his rehabilitation process, and has worked like crazy to get his body in tip-top shape.

“He loves basketball. He loves to compete,” Scott said of his 16-time NBA All-Star. “At his age right now, he really doesn’t have anything to accomplish. He’s done everything you want to accomplish on the basketball floor.

“He’ll be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, but he still wants to compete.”

Joel Huerto is editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

The Los Angeles Lakers completed a very difficult season in a most embarrassing way by getting swept out of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs. Now, the organization has to figure out how to remake this team on the fly and try to stay competitive in the stacked Western Conference.

They need to start by firing Mike D’Antoni and hire Byron Scott

DA was too often clueless on how to incorporate his players into the offense, mainly Pau Gasol. Gasol and Howard give the Lakers a huge advantage over most teams with two very good big men, but DA alienated Gasol almost immediately (upon being hired) by benching him rather than working with him.

Antwan Jamison was left out of the playing rotation earlier this season and he complained before DA started to trust him more in the second half of the season.

Byron Scott was recently fired by the Cleveland Cavaliers after failing to improve the team, but he would be an excellent choice for a veteran team like the Lakers. His Laker past would help him bring an air of credibility and he would step into a situation where the talent is plentiful. He never had these kind of players when he took over coaching jobs in New Jersey, New Orleans and Cleveland.

Talk to and amnesty Kobe

See if Kobe would be willing to be amnestied and come back in the 2014-15 season when they would be able to re-sign him. He would be able to rehab and collect the $30 million owed to him. But, amnestying him would save LA close to $80 million with the new CBA structure. As difficult as it sounds, this needs to be done so that the franchise can make the necessary improvements to be able to sign players and compete.

Most likely, Kobe will want to try and come back by the All-Star break … so in all likelihood he has played his last game with the purple and gold. The Lakers have to consider and ultimately use the amnesty clause to try to help improve the team and ease a huge financial burden.

I think he would probably sign with the Chicago Bulls to give them a pretty solid backcourt, even if Kobe won’t be the same player he once was.

Re-sign Howard and Earl Clark

Howard is the centerpiece to the future of the franchise. He is the best rebounding and defensive big man in the game and he is eager to prove he can carry the load on offense. He has made numerous comments about playing inside-out and wants to be the one to carry the torch for this great franchise.

Clark has stated he wants to remain with the Lakers, even if it means taking less money to do so. The Lakers should bring him back and play him at the small forward position. Their biggest weakness this past season was the lack of a perimeter defender. At 6-11, Clark would give them an excellent defender and he would upgrade a weakness. He’s too tall for most SF’s and he has the speed needed to keep up with most wing players; kind of like when Lamar Odom was playing small forward early in his career with the Los Angeles Clippers. Not that Clark is the scorer or passer Odom was. But, his height advantage and length give him a clear advantage over other small forwards.

They also need to decide what to do with Gasol

Do they try and trade Gasol to help improve the bench or keep Gasol and let his deal come off the books after next season. It all depends on what happens with DA, but I think a new head coach would work with the two big men and try and take advantage of their strengths. Gasol’s passing skills are a huge advantage and I think he actually played well over the last few weeks of the season. I’d keep him.

The Lakers have the ability to rebuild on the fly and still be a factor, but it all hinges on what they do with the head coach and Kobe.

Darren Jacks is a regular contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Send him an email at djroxalot@hotmail.com