Wright Positioned to Replace Outlaw

Bo Outlaw, who signed a two-year contract with the Orlando Magic last month, may have been the most valuable Clipper last season, playing power forward, small forward, center and point guard.

As the Clippers’ sixth man, Outlaw averaged more minutes than all but three starters and was the team’s third-best rebounder.

Lorenzen Wright, who started 51 games at center last season, is expected to follow in Outlaw’s footsteps.

“I think those are big shoes to fill,” Wright said. “Bo did a good job. I think Coach [Bill Fitch] has a lot of trust in me because Bo played center and forward and did such a good job for us.”

Wright, the Clippers’ No. 1 draft pick last year, drew Fitch’s ire when he reported to camp out of shape last season. He didn’t make the same mistake.

“I feel a whole lot more confident this season because I came into camp in a lot better shape than I did last season,” Wright said. “Last year I sat out most of the summer because of my [broken] foot. This summer I worked out a lot. I weigh 245, but it’s a different 245 than last year.”

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The Clippers got a scare when forward Rodney Rogers took a spill in practice Friday night. Rogers was uninjured, however.

Rogers, who usually reports to camp overweight, drew raves when he showed up in perhaps the best shape of his career.

But Rogers, who normally tries to deflect attention, downplayed it.

“Don’t you believe it,” Rogers said when told that a Clipper official had spokesn so glowingly about his conditioning.