Negotiations broke down last week as the Lakers retracted a contract offer to Lamar Odom. The 6-foot-10 forward is reportedly being sought by the Miami Heat.

Kobe Bryant,who's back in Asia this week on a sponsors tour, is already looking ahead to next season. And Kobe says the Lakers and their key free agent can agree to a new deal.

Kobe said: "I'm optimistic that he'll be back and in terms of how many championships we can win, I'm happy to get this last one. And now I'm starting to work towards trying to repeat and just go from there. But he makes us a much, much stronger team."

(CCTV July 24, 2009)