Kupchak’s To-Do List Hasn’t Gotten Shorter

A year ago poised to recruit Karl Malone and Gary Payton, Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak on Wednesday night began the thorny process of keeping the team together, particularly as Kobe Bryant embarked on free agency.

“It’s 9:01,” Kupchak said, “and we’ve already made a couple of calls. We called the guys who are our free agents and we’ve identified other guys we like and made some of those calls as well.”

By then, he’d called the agents for Bryant and Derek Fisher. Also, the Lakers had identified Tom Izzo, the Michigan State coach, as a possible replacement for Phil Jackson, along with Rudy Tomjanovich, Pat Riley and Jackson’s former assistants, Jim Cleamons and Kurt Rambis.

The organization’s relationship with Shaquille O’Neal appears unsalvageable. Malone apparently will retire. Bryant is thick with the Clippers and the Lakers’ early competition for Fisher probably will come from the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors.

According to sources, the Golden State Warriors have talked to the Lakers about O’Neal, offering center Erick Dampier in a sign-and-trade as a starting point. The Dallas Mavericks continue to push the hardest, though they are reluctant to part with Dirk Nowitzki.

General managers are feeling resistance from Kupchak, who has stated a desire to retain O’Neal in the face of his demand for a trade. O’Neal’s leverage is his ability to opt out of his contract at the end of next year, which, at best, would cost him about $16 million.

The Lakers’ fear, perhaps, is that they will unload O’Neal, only to see Bryant sign elsewhere, leaving them with no superstars and a lot of folded arms in the $2,000 courtside seats.

O’Neal would not approve of a trade to Golden State, for the same reason he would oppose a trade to the Clippers: The Warriors haven’t won lately and probably won’t soon.

O’Neal appears to have his heart set on Dallas, where owner Mark Cuban would set him up with an in-locker CD player and that $60-million extension. If there was any confusion, O’Neal’s wife, Shaunie, told the television show “Extra,” “Right now, I’d love to go to Dallas. Love to go! ... Hint, hint. So, Mark [Cuban], if you’re listening ... “

Meantime, Kupchak hopes O’Neal will change his mind, but while owner Jerry Buss travels Europe, Laker players can barely talk to O’Neal, he’s so upset.

All of which puts Kupchak on the eve of the free-agency period, in which he can talk to and negotiate with -- but not sign -- free agents. The pens come out July 14, by which time at least eight teams -- the Clippers, New York, Phoenix, Denver, Utah, San Antonio, Atlanta and the Lakers -- are expected to have called Bryant’s agent, and Bryant might have visited half of them.

During the NBA Finals, Bryant expressed his interest in the Knicks, who can’t pay him more than $5 million next season without a sign-and-trade, which Kupchak pledged not to do.

So, Kupchak doesn’t know if Bryant will come back, what he will get in return for O’Neal or whom his coach will be, though Jackson has cleaned out his office and Tomjanovich is expected to replace him. Izzo, 49, has some support within the organization, particularly if the Lakers are left to rebuild without O’Neal or Bryant.

Kupchak tried to negotiate an extension for Fisher, but it didn’t get done, and Fisher enters the market on a soft year for free-agent point guards -- Steve Nash and Troy Hudson, basically.

The Lakers have their mid-level exception (about $5 million) to spend. In recent years it has bought them Devean George and Gary Payton.

Kupchak figures to look into faster, more athletic players, now that the walk-it-up, set-it-up days of O’Neal and the triangle appear to be gone. The Lakers like Brent Barry, but he’ll draw a lot of interest, and $5 million would amount to a pay cut. Barry perhaps could be talked into the Lakers if Bryant were to return.

They could look into the likes of Bob Sura, Gordan Giricek, Chris Andersen, Brian Skinner, Kendall Gill and Keon Clark.

Their preference is to re-sign Bryant, Fisher and even Slava Medvedenko. And have Malone’s knee heal well enough for him to return.

The job looked big a summer ago. It’s bigger now.