Decision on Pfund on Hold : Lakers: West says evaluation will be made after the season. Guard Peeler is sidelined.

Laker executives have not ruled out firing Randy Pfund after the season, leaving their first-year coach to cope with mounting questions about his future as the playoffs approach.

But General Manager Jerry West on Friday downplayed published reports that owner Jerry Buss has already decided to dismiss Pfund and assistant coaches Chet Kammerer and Bill Bertka when the team is eliminated from the playoffs. West also said he has had no contact with Del Harris, his longtime friend and former coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, who is frequently mentioned as a possible Laker coach.

“Until we get to the end of our season, I’m not sure what direction our owner would go,” West said from Phoenix, where he was on a scouting trip.

“I really don’t want to get into this whole area. The only thing I will say is what I said (Thursday), that I know that after every season we evaluate our team and players and that’s what we will do this year. . . . We’re going to get through our season and see where things stand. I can tell you probably some of these players won’t be back here. We always try to do something to improve our team.”

Pfund said Friday that he has not been told his job is in jeopardy, and that although he doesn’t feel he is on shaky ground, he is concerned that uncertainty over his position will affect the team. He addressed the players Friday morning, urging them to concentrate on a first-round playoff matchup with Phoenix.

“My gut-level feeling is no, I don’t feel as though I am (in a tenuous position), but I don’t think it’s particularly a settling type of thing that the rumors continue to persist,” Pfund said before Friday night’s 122-93 loss to the SuperSonics at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

“And I think it’s unfortunate for the team. At this point of the year, we need to concentrate on what NBA basketball is all about, and that’s regardless of what you’ve done in the regular season.

“You have a fresh start when the playoffs begin. As a team, our concentration needs to be totally in that area, and I think our guys understand that.”

Said James Worthy: “Randy is my coach right now and it’s not fair to even comment on these rumors. It’s not fair to Randy. You hire a guy for a season, you ought to let him coach a season. We don’t need this distraction.”

In a statement Thursday, West denied a radio report that Buss had asked Magic Johnson to replace Pfund and said the job had not been offered to anyone. Johnson also denied the report.

In a statement released Friday, Buss said: “I have nothing to add to what Jerry West and Magic have said. We will evaluate the situation at the end of the season.”

Pfund said he has made no effort to contact Buss directly.

“I’m a very loyal employee of Jerry Buss,” said Pfund, a Laker assistant for seven seasons before his promotion last May.

“I won’t say I’m not concerned. I’ve been given a team that, because of our situation, has been in transition and I’m aware of that, but I won’t spend any time trying to track those guys down.

“I have to do everything I can to get these guys ready for the last two games of the season and for Phoenix.”

Pfund won’t have guard Anthony Peeler for the series against the Suns. Peeler was found to have a severe sprain of his right foot and will be sidelined at least four weeks, team spokesman John Black said.

The rookie from Missouri averaged 10.4 points and 2.2 assists in 21.5 minutes before being injured Wednesday in a collision with Utah’s Tyrone Corbin. He was put on the injured list and forward Alex Blackwell was activated. The Lakers must submit their playoff roster Monday, but Peeler won’t be on it.

“That’s a real tough blow for us going into the playoffs,” Pfund said. “We’ve got some other guys we can go to, like Byron (Scott). . . . Anthony, I thought, had the ability to come into a playoff series and explode.”

Pfund said he had spoken to West on Thursday, and their topics included many things, but not Pfund’s job.

“We talked a lot about our playoff matchup with Phoenix and we talked a little bit about Anthony from an injury standpoint, but basically, I’m very confident that I’m on the same wavelength with Jerry,” Pfund said.

“I think I’ve done a decent job with this team. I think I could have done better, but every coach thinks he can do better.”

His impression is that West has not placed sole blame on him for the Lakers’ dismal season.

“We’ve talked throughout the second half of the season, since we made the trade (that sent Sam Perkins to Seattle for Benoit Benjamin and the rights to Doug Christie), about what we’re trying to accomplish,” Pfund said.

“Jerry has been very up-front about the fact that we made a trade in the middle of the season that obviously had a lot to do with our future, and he’s very aware of the fact we were losing our most steady inside player and that could affect us in the second half of the season.

“My job is to coach this team and to try to win basketball games . . . no matter what players are there or who’s injured.”

The timing of the rumors remains Pfund’s biggest worry.

“I think it’s unfortunate that during our (1-11) streak where we were not playing very well and again now, at the end of the season, those rumors are kind of getting in the way. But they’re part of the business,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a positive thing, but I think our players are seasoned enough. They’ve been attacked as players, and they know this is a situation where we as a team have been attacked and personally I’m going to take some pressure.”

Laker Notes

Coach Randy Pfund played his starters very little Friday. “We were committed to resting some people tonight, and when things got out of hand, we just decided to take a look at some people,” Pfund said. . . . Shawn Kemp scored a game-high 26 points for the SuperSonics (55-26). Tony Smith had 18 points to lead the Lakers (38-43). . . . Vlade Divac was ejected with 7:24 to play in the third quarter after his second flagrant foul.

Doug Christie, whose refusal to sign with the SuperSonics led to the trade that sent him and Benoit Benjamin to the Lakers on Feb. 22, was booed by the Seattle Center Coliseum crowd of 14,691. “My family was in the stands, and I was really hyped. When I watch tape, I don’t look at the positive, I look at the negative. Tonight, I have a lot of negative to look at.” Christie, who had 10 points, was four for 12 and had four turnovers at shooting guard, which he had not played for the Lakers before. . . . Ricky Pierce (sinus condition) did not play for Seattle.