The Los Angeles Lakers are all set to jump in free agency in the summer of 2014. Even with the controversial contract extension they gave Kobe Bryant, they would still have space for a max contract, mostly due to Pau Gasol's $19 million.

Most observers forget that counting out Gasol's salary means losing Pau Gasol. Somehow, even most Laker fans are okay with that. In fact, this is the only year when the Pau Gasol trade talks died down, since his contract is expiring anyway. What has not died down, though, is the 'Fire D'Antoni' movement.

The Lakers has always been a team with superstars. For better or worse, they need players who won't just light it out on the court, they need them to be colorful personalities. Whether it's the environment that makes them colorful is another case entirely.

Case in point, the Lakers never traded a superstar for a number of players except once - Shaquille O' Neal to Miami for Brian Grant, Caron Butler and Lamar Odom. That's only because Shaq was in the way of a new superstar's development.

The problem with D'Antoni is that he refuses to adjust his system with his roster. He only knows of one way to coach, and he was fortunate to have the ideal player (Steve Nash during his MVP years) and roster to execute it.

He is doing just as well (slightly better) with a bunch of reserves as he did with a starting five that has won 3 MVPs, 3 DPOYs, 2 scoring titles and 2 assist titles, countless All Star and all-NBA appearances.

The Lakers will not be a team of reserves. Even with Dwight Howard walking away, LA is still a great place to play. While everyone says they would like to chase the title (like Kobe) they don't really mean that they will drop everything else for that title (like Kobe). If you really want a title over everything else, take the veterans' minimum and play in Miami. Even if LA will not offer a title, it can offer everything else a player would want.

Pau Gasol is in a contract year, and many were expecting him to have a breakout year in order to prove his worth and get a long term contract. That wasn't happening. And after a year and a month, he has come to realize that it will never happen, with this coach, with this team.

ESPN points out that the Lakers can trade Pau for a team that wants the cap flexibility. While they don't want to lost their own cap space, if they can useful players in return, (which is why they need the cap space in the first place).

"Tyson Chandler (owed $28.7 million over the next two seasons), and the Chicago Bulls, who could offer Carlos Boozer (owed $32.1 million over the next two seasons). The Lakers undoubtedly would want other assets in return for Gasol. But the Lakers are unlikely to consider any deal that cuts into their spending power in the summers of 2015 and 2016."

Another speculation is that the Lakers have already abandoned the 2014 summer plan, hence they gave the Kobe contract. They will still be an exciting playoff team, but not champions. More on that later.