Just a few thoughts as the Lakers slave away in what likely aren?t fun practices. Of course, they are doing that in Hawaii and they?re well paid so you can?t really feel bad for them. ? The Lakers cut Vlade Divac loose yesterday, something that was not a surprise. He told the LA Times his back hurt him after every hard workout, a sign that he could not play even the back-up minutes the Lakers need out of him. Which is too bad, I hope he gets to play a little more in Europe. ? One thing I?ve always admired about Kobe is how he comes to camp in incredible condition every year. This time he?s dropped about 10 pounds and worked on his quickness in the offseason, and since he (hopefully) will spend less time creating the Laker offense through penetration, he will take less of a beating and the added quickness will be a bigger help than bulk. ? Phil Jackson said it is possible Andrew Bynum could spend some time in the NDBL this season. This may well be Jackson doing some through-the-media motivation, but I can see Bynum spending some time down there ? at some point the kid needs to get in games and that?s not likely to happen, at least much, at the NBA level. If you send him down for a month and let him get some time on the court it will help his development. As he can go up and down a three times this season, one stint down there is understandable. ? Those of you who live in the Bay Area will be able to catch the Lakers first preseason game against the Warriors from Hawaii, it?ll be on Fox Sports Bay Area at 10 p.m. Oct. 11. For those of us who live in Los Angeles, we can read the box score the next morning. Lakers offered Chris Mihm, Vlade?s expiring contract and a pick for Curry, which the Bulls might well have taken, but the Lakers were only offering Curry himself three years at $7 million per, while the Knicks gave his six years at $10 million per. Frankly, I?m glad we missed out on that one.)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting STAT5:</div><div class="quote_post"> ? Those of you who live in the Bay Area will be able to catch the Lakers first preseason game against the Warriors from Hawaii, it?ll be on Fox Sports Bay Area at 10 p.m. Oct. 11. For those of us who live in Los Angeles, we can read the box score the next morning.</div> I'll definitely be tuning in to that one. Im sure you Laker fans could read the Warrior thread about the game to see how your players are looking ater the offseason.
If I had to make a guess on Bynum right now, I’d say this is a Jackson ploy to get Bynum to bust his ass in training camp. No matter what, I think he’ll spend some time in the D-League so the Lakers can see what they have in real games since he’s not going to get extended run in the NBA. That said, I don’t think there’s any way he spends a huge amount of time there. Especially with the lack of big men on the Laker team, they’ll most likely have him back up training under Kareem and getting a very few minutes per game. It seems like a wasted investment in Kareem if they don’t have Bynum working with him in practice, plus you want him around to learn the triangle. I can see sending Bynum there to play 10-15 games or so.
There's really no reason for Bynum to play in the D-League, unless the FortWorth team is going to be playing the Triangle offense. Also the Lakers hired Kareem to coach Bynum, so it wouldn't make much sense to ship him off to FortWorth, while Kareem stays in LA. I think this is PJax starting his mind games on Bynum, but I expect Bynum to be on the opening day roster learning from the sidelines and in practice. He will pay close attention to how the big men move around in the Triangle, and will earn minutes by busting his butt defensively in practice. Bynum only needs a solid 8 to 10 minutes on the court, just to get his feet wet and get used to the speed of the game and the physical nature of the NBA. When PJax coached the Bulls in the 1989-90 season, they drafted Stacy King #5 overall. PJax played King in all 82 games and gave him close to 22MPG. Of course, Stacy King was further along in his development, playing college basketball, but PJax isn't shy about using rookies. The Lakers are still thin in the frontcourt and having Bynum available would be beneficial.
