A different approach

Tonight’s opponent, the Toronto Raptors, is also breaking in a new pair of 7-footers. Toronto acquired Jermaine O’Neal in a trade with Indiana over the summer and he’s joined Chris Bosh to form what could be the most prolific offensive power forward-center combo in the league.

Whereas the Lakers have only sparingly played Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol together, the Raptors have played Bosh and O’Neal heavy minutes.

In Saturday’s win over the Clippers, Bosh played nearly 36 minutes and O’Neal played 33 minutes.

Early in the fourth quarter of tonight’s game, Bosh has played 29 minutes, O’Neal 21.

Gasol has played 24 minutes, Bynum just 18

Deron Williams suffers ankle injury

I normally don’t post non-Lakers related news, but when one of the premier point guards in the Western Conference gets hurt, it’s worth a mention.

Utah guard Deron Williams suffered what appeared to be a pretty serious ankle injury Saturday night in an exihibiton game in Chicago. According to our old buddy, Ross Siler at the Salt Lake Tribune, Williams is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday.

Advantage: Kobe

It was subtle this time, but apparently MVP status doesn’t make Kobe Bryant immune from a few jabs from his ever-pugilistic coach Phil Jackson. Friday in practice, Jackson commented that Bryant’s shot still seemed a bit flat to him, and that Bryant might still be a little tired from all his summer activities.

“Kobe still looks to me like his legs might be a little tired,” Jackson said.

Well, Saturday night Bryant answered that jibe both on and off the court, scoring a team-high 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting in the Lakers 108-104 win over FC Barcelona. Then afterwards in the locker room, when I playfully asked him what he’d thought of Jackson’s comments about him, Bryant laughed, shrugged his shoulders, then said: “I think it’s the other way around to be honest with you. I think Phil’s a little tired. I feel fantastic.”

Roster cuts by Tuesday

Not that it’s a huge deal, considering how deep the Lakers are this year, but Phil Jackson reminded everyone that the Lakers must trim their roster down to 15 by Tuesday. It currently sits at 18, so the guys on the bubble are likely: CJ Giles, Brandon Heath, Coby Karl and Joe Crawford.

Giles has looked impressive and athletic in the few times we’ve seen him pay in practice and exhibition games, and Phil Jackson has spoken glowingly about him on several occasions. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll make the team.

“He’s really talented young man,” Jackson said of Giles. “He has recognition troubles sometimes but he’s the only one who really wasn’t here during our summer league. He came in right before preseason started so he didn’t have the opportunity to learn as much as the other guys so he’s been behind a little bit, but his athleticism makes up for it.”

Contracts also figure into the equation. Giles and Heath are free agents, with no guaranteed money. Sun Yue received $100,000 after passing his physical and becomes fully guaranteed for the rest of the year if he’s on the opening day roster. Karl becomes guaranteed if he’s on the roster January 9, as does Josh Powell.

Calling Kobe’s bluff

I just got done interviewing FC Barcelona’s Juan Carlos Navarro, who played in the NBA last season with his best friend Pau Gasol, but returned home to Spain in the offseason for a reported five-year, $15 million euro contract.

Earlier in the day, I’d asked Kobe Bryant what he thought of Navarro’s game and he said: “I think (Navarro) is a great player. I think he’d be great in this kind of system, the way he moves without the basketball, he’s a great shooter.”

When told of Bryant’s praise, Navarro had a quick laugh.

“I think so too,” he said. “If Kobe wants to pay for my buyout (approximately $10 million euro), I’ll come.”

Starting five

The Lakers won Pacific Division and Western Conference titles last season with a starting five of Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Vladimir Radmanovic.
So why would Phil Jackson mess with success? Because he can? Because he wants to see what else might or might not work now that Andrew Bynum is back from his kneecap injury?
Everyone assumes that Bryant, Fisher, Odom, Bynum and Gasol might be the Lakers’ starting five for opening night Oct. 28. However, Jackson let it slip after Friday’s practice that he might just go back to last season’s starting five when the Lakers open 2008-09 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jackson could still play Bynum and Gasol together. He could still play Bryant at small forward and Odom at point guard. He could still use Trevor Ariza and Luke Walton in the backcourt. He can do all these things because the Lakers have exceptional depth.
So, stay tuned because this is when it starts to get interesting.

Breaking down the Bynum situation a bit further

I had a feeling this situation could get a little sticky all the way back in July when I checked in with Bynum’s agent, David Lee and he said, “I know what we want, I know what the rest of the league thinks of Andrew. I just hope the Lakers are on the same page.”

That was a not so subtle indication that Lee was going to pursue a max contract for his young client and was going to be disappointed if it didn’t get done before the season began. Still, Lee said he understood the club’s position that it wanted to see Bynum in training camp and evaluate his recovery from the knee injury which ended his season last January.

OK, so here we are in mid-October, midway through training camp and two weeks until the October 31 deadline to get the contract extension done. If it’s not done by then, Bynum becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the season. At which point, the club would likely make him a one-year qualifying offer, which he has the option of accepting or declining. If he accepts it, he would then become an unrestricted free agent after the 2009-10 season. If he declines it, he has the right to sign an offer sheet with any other club but the Lakers would also have the right to match that offer.

So here are the questions that must be answered:

1. Have the Lakers seen enough from Bynum in training camp to feel confident in the health of his knee?

2. Have the Lakers seen enough from Bynum in his three seasons with the club to sign him to a maximum contract over five years between $83 and $88 million depending on how much the salary cap increases?

3. Would Bynum risk playing this season without an extension?

4. Would Bynum risk playing two seasons without a long-term extension in the hopes of becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010?

There are three other dynamics you have to consider:

1. The Lakers have invested heavily in Bynum and would like to see him continue to develop into a franchise cornerstone.

2. Lamar Odom is an unrestricted free agent after this season. And Kobe Bryant has the right to opt out of his contract at the end of his season, meaning he could command another huge payday if he were to subsequently re-up with the Lakers. Whatever the Lakers do with Bynum also affects what they will do with Odom, and to a lesser extent with Bryant.

3. Just about every team in the league is trying to clear enough cap space for the summer of 2010, when LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade will all be free agents. If Bynum takes the risk of playing two seasons without the longterm extension, there could be a number of teams with the cap space in that summer to make him a maximum offer. And for a team that misses out on Bosh, James or Wade, wouldn’t Bynum make a nice consolation prize?

The last thing that factors in is really pretty intangible and hard to quantify. But there are some franchises in the NBA known for “taking care of their guys” and the Lakers are generally one of them. For another example, think Washington with Gilbert Arenas last summer, where the Wizards gave Agent Zero a max deal (which he then was asked to reduce a bit so the team could sign some other players too) even though he was coming off knee surgery. It was the ultimate sign of respect, and you’d be surprised how much weight that can carry with an NBA player, particularly one who fancies himself a superstar. Anyone remember Elton Brand and his early termination option (ETO)?

In today’s stories about the situation, several times David Lee is quoted talking about the loyalty Bynum has showed, about respect, and things of that nature.

It should be pointed out that there’s a huge difference between Bynum and Gilbert Arenas. Bynum, as Phil Jackson correctly pointed out in his preseason media gathering, has had three great months in the NBA. Arenas is a perennial All-Star. Then again, Bynum is a 7-foot tall center with soft hands, great athleticism, a growing maturity and a ridiculous 7-foot-6 wingspan for blocking shots and there aren’t very many of those guys floating around the NBA.

So basically, it’s complicated. That’s about as succinctly as it can be summed up. And because of that, and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak’s deliberate style (deliberate doesn’t mean bad, just deliberate), I’d say the most likely resolution to all this will also be complicated, deliberate and take just about all of the two weeks remaining to get this done. But one way or another, here’s guessing Bynum is in purple and gold for a very long time.

More Bynum

I did some checking on a few of the figures we’ve seen connected with Andrew Bynum’s potential extension. First off, it should always be noted that the potential maximum extension Bynum could sign is 5 years, $88 million is just that, potential. It is contingent upon the salary cap and where it’s set.

With normal growth of about 5 percent, that’s what it would be. However, that’s normal growth and we are not exactly in a normal growth cycle economically in this country. With no “growth” the max Bynum could sign for would be $83.2 million.

Also, there are several reports out there saying the Lakers are hoping to land Bynum for closer to $78 million. I just spoke to a league source, with knowledge of the negotiations, who said that the Lakers and Bynum are “so far off on money that they haven’t even talked `years’ yet.” In other words, if the Lakers are hoping to land Bynum for around $78 million, which could indeed be the case (the Lakers had no official comment today) that hasn’t been communicated to Bynum’s camp yet.

If and when they do talk years, there is always the possibility that Bynum could sign a contract that gives him the potential of becoming a free agent after three years, as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did a few years ago. That’s advantageous because after seven years in the league, a player can sign a maximum contract for 25 percent of the salary cap. After eight years, that maximum contract can be for 30 percent of the salary cap.

I’ll have a longer breakdown of the Bynum situation later tonight so check back around midnight.