The only signing the Lakers have made thus far was to bring back Darius Morris for another season. That doesn’t even qualify as a drop in the free agency bucket from the wide perspective. Mitch Kupchak might be working the phones on potential trades but in the FA market the Lakers options are beyond limited.

With only a $3-million mine mid-level exception available the Lake Show is looking for someone will to give them a serious discount. According to reports the Lakers are looking at Nick Young and Brandon Rush as potential targets. Of course both could stand to make much more on the open market. Rush was in the $3-million range last season while Young made twice as much. Either way the Lakers will have to do some serious selling.

Kupchak’s hands are tied and he’s in a bad spot. He’s got an owner that is stressing no major moves and a fan base that’s eager to see another title contender. Then there’s also the issue of Kobe Bryant’s desire to catch and possibly surpass Michael Jordan as the most decorated player of the modern era.

Can’t at all say I envy Kupchak. The Lakers are in a strange place caught somewhere between building and rebuilding.

The Buss family is trying to lessen the amount they pay in luxury taxes. That means going above and beyond the cap in the sake of re-signing players like Ramon Sessions is a shaky proposition at best. It also means that some of those blockbuster deals we’ve been discussing will be even more difficult to accomplish if the Lakers are matching dollar for dollar. Currently Kupchak still has an$8-million trade exception in his back pocket. But all that does is allow the Lakers to take on more salary than what they might be willing to pay out.

These are much different times in Lakerland. L.A. is no longer the premier destination it once was and the new CBA has limited options that would have otherwise been available. Kupchak has yet another challenge to overcome and has only a small window of time to do so. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy but who knew it would be this difficult?

Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

Mitch Kupchak has already gone on the record saying the Lakers want Ramon Sessions back for next season. Ramon Sessions himself has said he’d like to be back in L.A. for the 2012-13 campaign. So why then hasn’t Sessions exercised his $4.5-million option for next season? Better yet why are there rumors floating around of the Lake Show looking for an upgrade at point guard?

You don’t need to be an NBA insider to know what is going on here.

Sessions isn’t going to jump on the chance to get $4-million next year when he could get more on the open market. If nothing else Sessions stands to secure a contract beyond one more year if he decides not to enact his player-option for next season.

From the Lakers’ perspective they’ve got to be very apprehensive given Ramon’s poor showing in the playoffs combined with his late season swoon. Safe to say the speedy guard got a rude awakening in the many differences between playoff hoops and regular season ball. Mike Brown routinely turned to Steve Blake during crucial moments of the postseason.

You could easily argue that given a full training camp combined with a full year of playing with his new team that Sessions could become more consistent and comfortable in his role.

Then again, Sessions is five years into his pro career and he’s been on four teams in that short span. At this point what you see is pretty much what you’ll get. Not saying dude is tapped out on potential, just saying that we’re not going to see Sessions transform into a franchise caliber point guard overnight.

But the Lakers knew what they were getting when they dealt for Ramon. He was an upgrade only in the he’s not Derek Fisher slow sense of an upgrade.

The problem now is it’s already time for the team to decide which way they’re going to go after only getting 23 games out of Ramon.

We know what he can do. Ramon instantly gave the Lakers a transition game. His open court speed added an element to Los Angeles that hasn’t been seen since the days of Nick Van Exel. Sessions was able to breakdown defenses and create open looks for shooters while throwing perfect lobs for cutters.

We also know what he can’t do. Sessions is a defensive liability. Whereas Fisher had the desire but not the ability to defender faster point guards, Sessions just didn’t put up much of a fight. I’m still haunted by images of Ramon trying to guard Russell Westbrook…

The good news for the Lakers is that Ramon shot a career best 47% from the field during his time in purple and gold while shooting a staggering 48% from three…during the regular season. During the playoffs…well…not so much.

Obviously the Lakers have few options at their disposal to upgrade at point guard. There is talk of pursuing Beno Udrih and the pipedream that is acquiring Deron Williams. So it pretty much looks like L.A. is stuck with Sessions and Sessions is stuck in Los Angeles. Not that it’s a bad thing.

Sessions has improved as a shooter during his time in the league and he’ll no doubt continue to work on that aspect of his game. His turnovers were problematic at times especially during the playoffs where every possession counts. But there is more than enough to work with and at this point the Lakers owe it to themselves to see what Sessions can do with a full compliment of practices and a full year being coached up by Mike Brown.