The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off of their worst season in the franchise’s storied history, as the team finished the 2014-2015 season with a 21-61 record, which was good for the third-worst record in the NBA behind the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks. Kobe Bryant tore his rotator cuff in January and missed the rest of the season. Nick Young suffered a myriad of injuries, including a torn thumb ligament, sprained ankle, foot injury, and he was diagnosed with a small fracture in his knee. Without those two guys, the Lakers had issues scoring.

Entering free agency, the Lakers had hopes of convincing both LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre Jordan to come to the “City of Angels,” even asking Kobe to sit in on the team’s meeting with Aldridge. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Aldridge signed with the San Antonio Spurs, and Jordan chose the Dallas Mavericks. Without any other options, the Lakers desperately negotiated a trade with the Indiana Pacers for 7-foot-2 center, Roy Hibbert.

While Hibbert will give the team some much-needed rim protection and a solid rebounder, he’s not going to have a significant impact on the success of the Lakers in 2015-2016. With his size, Hibbert should be one of the most dominant centers in the NBA, but he tends to have a lack of concentration at times, and he doesn’t possess the mean streak needed to dominate in the paint.

The player that the Lakers have been linked to that could instantly turn them into playoff contenders is DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds last season for the Sacramento Kings, but head coach George Karl is attempting to trade him so he can deploy the same run-n-gun type style that was so successful when he was coaching the Denver Nuggets.

With Hibbert’s $15.5 million contract added to Kobe’s $25 million for 2015-2016, those two guys are tying up 60% of the Lakers’ salary cap for the upcoming season. Add in the contracts of the rest of the Lakers’ current roster, and the Lakers have roughly $14 million left in salary cap space. After drafting D’Angelo Russell, and with the return of last year’s first-round pick, Julius Randle, Kobe and Young from injury, the Lakers look to have an improved roster, but it’s still far from a playoff contender, and $14 million likely isn’t enough to acquire the type of impact players the Lakers are missing.

In order to acquire another big-name player through the trade market, the Lakers need Kobe to take a pay cut. The problem is that the front office is so scared of Kobe that general manager, Mitch Kupchak, and part-owner, Jim Buss, will never broach that subject with Kobe for fear of angering one of the greatest Lakers players of all time. With Kobe likely aware of that fact, he should take it upon himself to offer to take a reduced salary for 2015-2016. Considering Kobe has a reported net worth of $360 million, he could certainly afford to take less money in order to help the Lakers acquire better players.

Tim Duncan just recently took a pay cut so that the Spurs could sign Aldridge, but then again, Duncan is the ultimate team player, which has been a flaw of Kobe’s for years. Duncan accepted a less money than the $10.3 million he made last season so that the team could offer Aldridge a max contract. With Aldridge in tow, the Spurs are the favorites to win the NBA title next season, Duncan’s last year, and the team now has a nucleus for the days after Duncan, with Kawhi Leonard, Aldridge, and Danny Green.

Everyone knows how stubborn and hard-headed Kobe is, so it’s unlikely that he will offer to take a pay cut, which will likely hamstring the Lakers for 2015-2016. With this season likely being Kobe’s last, it would put even more pressure on Buss and Kupchak if the Lakers aren’t successful this coming year, especially with Buss’s sister, Jeanie Buss, saying that he has two years to improve the Lakers or changes will be made. Kobe holds the whole future of the Lakers franchise in his hand; it’s only a question of whether he will crush it or allow the team to flourish.

Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.