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July 07, 2006
Friday free agent update
Put in a call Friday afternoon to Mark Bartelstein, one of the NBA's top agents, who represents Devean George and Brian Cook among many players.
He said there's nothing new with George, whose run with the Lakers will come to an end after seven seasons. Bartelstein said he is still talking with a bunch of teams about George and they are not yet at the stage of setting up visits for him.
The list of teams interested in George, from Saturday, was Cleveland, Denver, Washington, the Clippers, San Antonio and Phoenix.
I also asked about how the Lakers' agreement with Vladimir Radmanovic will affect Cook's status. Maybe Cook wants out - - he'll be a restricted free agent next summer - - but Bartelstein didn't suggest that in our conversation.
"Radmanovic sort of took Devean's spot,'' Bartelstein said. "I don't know if that changes anything with Brian. He's going to go out there and compete, and I think he's going to have a great, great year.''
Bartelstein represents a lot of guys who aren't among the top tier free agents, including Darius Songaila, Jake Voskuhl, Aaron Williams and Jannero Pargo. He mentioned those four on Saturday as players the Lakers at least had discussed as free agency opened, but said Friday that there had been no negotiations with the team.
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The Lakers still could spend the $1.75 million bi-annual salary cap exception on a free agent this summer. The catch is that they could not use it come next summer. It is not good for consecutive years.
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With so much attention sure to be on Andrew Bynum this summer-league season, I thought it would be worth noting how some of the other high school-to-the-NBA players from the Class of 2005 are doing.
Martell Webster had 29 points on 10 of 19 shooting (5 of 8 3-pointers) for Portland's team on Thursday night in Las Vegas. Andray Blatche, a second-round pick by Washington, had 15 points and 12 rebounds but also eight turnovers. Hope those eight turnovers are a misprint in the box score.
Posted by Ross Siler at July 7, 2006 01:56 PM