Jeremy Lin out for season; Lakers expect to re-sign Dwight Buycks

Jeremy Lin’s season with the Lakers is over, according to Coach Byron Scott.

“I was optimistic this morning, seeing him shoot,” said Scott, who left the door open for Lin’s return after shoot-around Sunday. “I got the news that he’s not going to play tonight, and he’s not going to play for the rest of the season.”

Lin is suffering from a sore left knee. A recent MRI examination showed a cartilage abnormality that isn’t considered serious.

The Lakers’ season ends Wednesday. They have three games left, counting Sunday night’s game against Dallas at Staples Center.

Scott spoke highly of Lin’s improvement throughout the year.

“I think he’s obviously gotten better. When he first got here, his mind of what a point guard is was totally different than mine,” said Scott. “As we went along, he started to understand what I wanted on a day-to-day basis.

“The one thing about him, the kid takes criticism. You can jump on him about things. He takes them with a grain of salt and tries to get better. That’s the one thing I do love about him. He doesn’t pout about it, doesn’t cry. He just goes out there and tries to implement the things that you give him, and tries to be a better basketball player.”

Lin averaged 11.2 points and 4.6 assists in 74 games this season, shooting 42.4% from the field and 36.9% from three-point range.

After Dwight Buyck’s 10-day contract expires following Sunday’s game, the Lakers will have just two available guards for their game at Sacramento on Monday night. They play the Kings again in the season-ender Wednesday at Staples.

“Obviously with the news with Jeremy, I think there’s no doubt we’ll probably keep” Buycks, Scott said. “So we’ll at least have three guards to play these last [couple of] games with.”

Buycks will have earned $48,028 over his contract with the Lakers. He would cost an additional $14,408 for the final three days of the regular season.

“He’s got good poise. He handles the ball pretty well, can run the offense, can make outside shots,” Scott said. “I just want to see a little bit more.”

Through five games, Buycks is averaging 8.4 points and 2.4 assists, shooting 48.3% from the field and a stellar 77.8% from three-point range.

Buycks was signed by the Lakers via a hardship exception, granted by the NBA because of the high volume of players the team has lost for the season (Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle, Wayne Ellington, Ronnie Price and Nick Young).

If the Lakers prefer to sign Buycks to a contract taking him beyond the rest of the year, through the 2015-16 season (likely on a non-guaranteed contract like teammate Jabari Brown), the team would need to first waive one player to bring the roster back down to the standard maximum of 15.

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.