He’s seen them all come and go. He played with some of them, on championship teams in Washington (1978) and Los Angeles (1985). And for 23 years, Mitch Kupchak has been tasked with keeping the Lakers relevant, filled with stars and always on the brink of another title as the team’s general manager.

Kupchak got Pau Gasol to L.A. in 2009, putting another superstar with Kobe Bryant in a move that led to two more NBA titles. But Bryant finally got old, and Gasol moved on, and the Lakers made the call to start over. So Kupchak and vice president Jim Buss have gone to the Draft, picking Julius Randle seventh in 2014 (and getting the rights to second-rounder Jordan Clarkson that year, too), picking D’Angelo Russell No. 2 overall and Larry Nance 27th overall in 2015 and taking Brandon Ingram second overall in 2016, and hiring Luke Walton as coach last summer.

The record hasn’t been pretty the last couple of years, but it was the figurative price the team paid for the literal price of Bryant’s two-year, $48.5 million goodbye present. With Bryant finally retired, the team was turned over to the kids, and a first-year coach, with predictable results. The Lakers were .500 at the end of November, but have cratered since, leaving the front office’s future in question until team president Jeanie Buss decides what to do. But the 62-year-old Kupchak is a lifer, and he remains a respected executive around the league.

The Lakers will be poised to be active in free agency again this summer, with a chance to accelerate the rebuild. Until then, the progress of one of the league’s top two franchises back to relevance will come in small moves, requiring a man of patience to handle the ups and downs.

Me: What is your sense of progress this season? You’ve been around a long time and you know a hot start doesn’t always lead to a successful finish.

Mitch Kupchak: Well, I think the start of the season fueled our hopes for something that I don’t think was expected. We were 10-10, and I think we went on a long road trip and we had three or four injuries. I think that’s part of the league, road trips and injuries. We didn’t adjust that well to it. And we went through a period where it was kind of tough to win a game. And we lost our mojo, so to speak. And it’s been difficult to get it back. That’s kind of where we are today, based on wins and losses. Putting that aside, we’re incredibly excited about our future. I think we’ve got six or seven young players that I think all have a great future in front of them. And we have a mix of older veterans that I think are going to help our young guys mature and make progress. We’re very excited about the future, and the development of the young players on this team.

Me: What are you seeing from Ingram now that maybe wasn’t there at the beginning of the year?

MK: He’s making steady improvements. Despite the length of the season, and the fact that a lot of rookies struggle at 45 or 50 games, he doesn’t seem to have run out of gas. He’s been really consistent and he’s getting confidence day by day. He’s still only 19, so he’s got a long way to go. But he seems eager to work. Nothing seems to rattle him. He’s playing like he fits in.