EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Media-friendly and all-around great guy Luke Walton got in there and asked Phil Jackson and Mitch Kupchak the burning question.

Walton walked in for his 3 p.m. meeting with them Tuesday, talked through the usual things that players and management discuss in season-ending sessions. And when in typical job-interview fashion
Jackson and Kupchak formally asked Walton if he had any questions for them, he said he did.
He had the question that every Lakers fan has: Will the champs be back together next season?
Walton told them this was an “unbelievable team as far as chemistry” that would be right there for more NBA championships “for the next couple years” if kept intact.
“And they agreed,” Walton said later. “And they said they want to bring everyone back.”
As clear as Walton’s question was, that’s the furthest Jackson and Kupchak can go in their answer.
Even with the non-media, they have to choose their words carefully.
There’s a difference between wanting to bring everyone back and actually bringing everyone back. In this case, the core difference is about $10 million, which is how big a raise Andrew Bynum will be getting from this season to next season.
The easiest way to fix the math would be just to wipe Lamar Odom’s expiring $14 million salary off the books and use what’s left to reward Trevor Ariza in a new, long-term contract that should more than double his salary from $3 million.
I have little doubt that Ariza will return, whatever big brother Baron Davis advises him about free agency and however high the salary-cap number winds up being.
The Lakers know the main area the team still needs to improve is defense, and Ariza is a sensation in that area with more room to grow in dependability and team defense. On offense, the Lakers have become too predictably Kobe-centric late in games, and Ariza has a knack for overcoming the pressure of those moments.
As important as anything, though, is that Ariza has the attitude the Lakers need as they move forward. He has an edge to him. He sports a lean cut even though he’ll try yet again to add 10 pounds this summer but he is in no way soft.
When I asked him during the NBA Finals why he thought Bryant took such a personal interest in him to the point that even Derek Fisher noticed it was out of the ordinary, Ariza said he and Bryant are not dissimilar in attitude.
“Probably because I’m a competitor,” Ariza said. “I hate to lose. I’m going to fight till the end.”
Given all of that, when he went in for his meeting with Jackson and Kupchak right after Walton did, Ariza didn’t need to ask any questions to know what was going on.
“I felt loved in there,” Ariza said, smiling.
Ariza said that feeling matters more to him than money.
Odom is willing to accept less money to stay, and he’s so intent on staying that he said right after the championship was won in Orlando: “In October we’ll try to get right back at it to try to get here again. The focus is there, our town expects it, and that’s what pushes us, helps us strive for perfection.”
Having Odom back also would make the job of everyone so much easier, especially if his 51.4 percent 3-point shooting in the postseason isn’t a mirage. But the primary question to color the Lakers’ thinking here is whether they should make the job of Bynum so much easier.
Having Odom is a luxury in case Bynum gets hurt again or can’t learn to avoid foul trouble. Paying
Odom the really big number for a lot more years as could be offered by another club, even in this depressed economy would be too luxurious, however.
It hardly makes sense to pay too much to back up two guys making $16.5 million (Pau Gasol) and $12.5 million (Bynum) especially if the underlying goal is to give Bynum has every opportunity to develop quickly and if the Lakers rightly question Odom’s level of future motivation.
So it’s entirely conceivable the Lakers can win the next championship without Odom, particularly if Josh Powell and Walton can operate at power forward behind some lower-cost veteran big man such as Chris Andersen, Jamaal Magloire, Antonio McDyess, Joe Smith or Chris Wilcox available in free agency.
Odom’s guard skills often enable Bryant to play his preferred wing position in the triangle offense, but Ariza said his No. 1 focus this offseason will be to improve his already-decent guard skills.
With Odom back, the Lakers unquestionably enhance the chance to repeat. As this all plays out, though, just bear in mind that it’s doable without him, too.