Van Exel to Begin Supervised Workouts

Nick Van Exel is scheduled to take another significant step in his recovery today when he returns to supervised workouts at Laker practice.

Van Exel, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Feb. 26, still is unable to rejoin teammates. The current schedule has him doing work on the side while the Lakers go through their usual routine and then join them this weekend on the trip to Vancouver and Seattle to continue rehabilitation under the watch of trainer Gary Vitti.

If that goes well, he could be cleared to begin full practices next week. The exact date is unclear because the first possible workout would be March 17 and the Lakers will typically be off after back-to-back games, though Coach Del Harris has in the past organized informal gatherings so a returning player could begin practicing with teammates.

The Lakers have also yet to set a target date for Van Exel to be activated from the injured list and return to action.

Harris would likely want his all-star point guard to get in at least one hard practice before playing Van Exel, and that first practice may not come until next Thursday.

Van Exel has missed the last 11 games. The Lakers are 7-4 in that time and have a three-game winning streak.

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Hoping to at least ease the burden on a struggling Kobe Bryant, Harris has barely played Bryant at point guard lately, allowing him to concentrate on shooting guard and small forward in an attempt to break out of a slump that has now reached a month.

Bryant, inserted into the role when Van Exel went out and Derek Fisher became the temporary starter, has played the point zero, six, seven and four minutes the last four outings.

There are signs he is breaking through the worst stretch of his young pro career, not seeming to hesitate as much as a week ago on his shots, but he is still only eight of 28 from the field in that time and 58 of 154 (39.5%) in the 14 games since the All-Star break.

“I’m trying to make it as easy as possible for him,” Harris said. “Maybe just playing the two spots there, it’ll get a little easier.”

Said Bryant: “It’s not a good thing, it’s not a bad thing. It just is.”