In L.A., Mike Bresnahan notes Lakers G Kobe Bryant's decision to retire gives the team a "big gift and hope for a new era." Bryant's $25M salary is "coming off the books," allowing Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak to "go shopping for some free agents with money in his pocket." The Lakers have "only seven players under contract next season" for a total of $26.3M. NBA team payrolls "will spike" to about $90M thanks to the "lucrative new national TV deal, so it's hard not to envision Lakers executives smiling a bit despite the team's worst start" since '57. Whether any free agents "take the Lakers' money is another story" (L.A. TIMES, 12/1).
NOT MESSING AROUND: In Phoenix, Nick Piecoro writes the D-backs' rejected six-year, $120M offer to free agent P Johnny Cueto was "fascinating on a variety of levels, not the least of which being that it could be justifiably viewed from a number of extremes." Piecoro: "Was it a stunning offer from a small-to-mid-market team that tends to be fiscally conservative? Sure. Or was it a clear below-market offer to a pitcher who seems likely to surpass $120 million, particularly coming from a club that just this year locked in a television deal worth more than $1.5 billion? It could be that, too." The offer is, "more than anything, an indication" that the D-backs "aren’t messing around when it comes to improving." Their pursuit of Cueto "was serious and earnest" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 12/1).
PLACE YOUR BIDS: An NHL Kings spokesperson on Saturday said that the team has "put in a bid" to host the '17 All-Star Game. LAKINGSINSIDER.com's Jon Rosen noted as Saturday, there is "no word on which other teams have put in a bid or are considering a bid," or when the '17 ASG host city will be announced. L.A. last hosted the ASG in '02. Sources said that the Kings "feel as though they will have a very strong claim" for the game, which will "occur during the club's 50th NHL season" (LAKINGSINSIDER.com, 11/28).
