LOS ANGELES — Imagine the NBA draft, not the NBA finals, being the big event for the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.

Picture Blake Griffin being ticketed for the Lakers, not the Clippers, who worked out the presumed No. 1 pick Saturday while their Staples Center co-tenants were practicing for Game 2 of the finals.

Would any of it have been possible if Kobe Bryant had switched sides five years ago?

The Lakers probably wouldn't be in the finals, where they brought a 1-0 lead over the Orlando Magic into Game 2 on Sunday night. But they don't think they would have tumbled into lottery land, either.

Bryant's teammates — and even Bryant himself — believe the Lakers would have remained a successful team, because that's what their organization is supposed to do.

"Even though it would look different, not seeing him in a Laker uniform, to say that the Lakers would have been in the dumps forever is a tough one for me to say," guard Derek Fisher said.

Bryant, the league's MVP last season and runner-up this one, agrees he could have been replaced.

"You know, in every sport certain organizations always seem to find a way, and I believe the Lakers are one of them," he said. "The Celtics obviously had a drought, but they put themselves back in the hunt. You look at baseball, the Yankees will always be around, the Red Sox will always be around. There's certain organizations that seem to find a way, and I believe the Lakers are one of them."

That's always been the case with the Lakers, who are going for their 15th NBA title. From Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West to Magic Johnson, they've eventually had to say goodbye to some of the best players in league history and yet have made the finals 30 times, most of any franchise.

Then, after losing to Detroit in the 2004 finals, they decided to move on without Shaquille O'Neal, breaking up a partnership with Bryant that had produced three championships by trading him to Miami. Coach Phil Jackson, and starters Karl Malone and Gary Payton wouldn't be returning, and suddenly there also was the possibility that Bryant would be leaving, too.

He was a free agent that summer, and while the idea of leaving the storied Lakers franchise for a longtime loser would seem far-fetched, Bryant considered an offer from the Clippers before opting to re-sign for $136 million.

Assistant coach Brian Shaw said he didn't believe Bryant would bolt, but understood why his former teammate had to consider it — or at least give the impression that he was.

"You have to get to the point where you have leverage and he had all the leverage in the world," Shaw said. "Shaq was gone, Phil was gone, Payton and Malone, they were gone, and so it looked like the organization possibly could go in the other direction. So he had the ultimate leverage at that point and I think he did what he needed to do as a businessman to put the pieces in place that he wanted in place for the organization."

The Lakers would struggle over the next few seasons, even missing the playoffs in 2005, when they had Bryant and little else. So it's easy to envision that they could have become one of the league's worst teams if he hadn't stayed.

The Lakers aren't so sure.

"Nobody knows," Luke Walton said. "You have $120 million to go find other players. Would Phil come back? There's no way to know where we would be if he'd signed somewhere else."

A frustrated Bryant asked for a trade two years ago, but instead the Lakers made moves to strengthen the team around him, and now they're in the finals for a second straight year.

Bryant can become a free agent again this summer, but the Lakers don't think they'll have to ponder life without him.

"I don't think he's going anywhere now, but if someone throws part of the franchise at him or something like that, he could take it," Walton said. "But I don't think he's going anywhere."