Good Signs for Lakers?

The cloud cover cleared a bit. Some mysteries were explained. Subtle moves were placed in a bigger context.

Looking generally pleased with the events of the week, but not disputing there were some big names who have so far eluded his grasp, Executive Vice President Jerry West showed up for the first time to his team’s informal workouts at L.A. Southwest College on Tuesday.

And by no coincidence, the Laker roster--with the impending additions of Travis Knight and Derek Harper--finally is taking on a tangible shape and feel.

Mostly, the developing Laker roster for 1999 looks a lot like the roster for 1997-98, and there is a big reason for that.

“I think there’s a danger in messing around with a team that won 61 games with a lot of injuries last year and hasn’t been together very long,” West said.

“We would have to think that this would be looked upon as a powerful team [even] if we didn’t do anything else.”

In an interview session that matched the high-speed pace of the last few days of negotiations, West confirmed these personnel nuggets:

* The Lakers have a deal in place to reacquire 1996 No. 1 pick Knight from the Boston Celtics in a trade for forward Tony Battie.

Both West and Coach Del Harris indicated that Knight, who signed a seven-year, $22-million free-agent deal with Boston last off-season, is a candidate to start at power forward this truncated season.

* Fifteen-year veteran point guard Harper, who played for the Orlando Magic last season, has agreed to sign with the Lakers at the veteran minimum of $1 million.

The Lakers had also been pursuing Kevin Johnson but were set to offer him their $1.75-million middle-class exception, which is no longer available to Johnson because . . .

* Last season’s starting small forward, Rick Fox, whom the Lakers originally thought was not interested in accepting the middle-class exception, now might be reconsidering.

If Fox wants to sign for the $1.75 million, West said, the Lakers will hold it for him.

Fox’s agent, Mark Portnoy, said Tuesday that Fox has at least one richer deal on the table, but not, as once thought, from the Atlanta Hawks, who currently are offering Fox the same $1.75-million exception.

* Minnesota free-agent forward Tom Gugliotta is still a dim possibility in a sign-and-trade scenario.

* There is no deal set up yet to dispatch Laker center-forward Elden Campbell, who skipped the workouts for the fifth consecutive day.

But that doesn’t mean a trade can’t be worked out come training camp, when teams that refused the Lakers’ suggestions realize they really do need a low-post center.

* The Lakers were interested in free-agent forward Scottie Pippen--and Pippen was interested in coming to the Lakers--but the Bulls’ demands doomed any Laker deal.

Pippen has agreed in terms to a sign-and-trade deal that would send him to the Houston Rockets for a No. 2 pick and Roy Rogers.

“I think there was great interest on Scottie’s part [to come] here,” West said.

But the Bulls apparently were asking for any package to include Eddie Jones and not Campbell and his $7-million salary, and West reportedly was unmoved.

The Lakers also are taking looks at veteran power forwards such as Charles Oakley, West said, but have found that, in all cases, either a trade can not be worked out or the salary cap figures are impossible to massage.

With a labor deal that makes it easier for teams to keep their young talent for the long haul, there was no reason to tear up the nucleus to make a heedless, one- or two-year, all-or-nothing run, West said.

“Sacrificing [young players] one year to win a championship and giving up a chance to win a championship for seven-eight years, I don’t think any of us would do that,” West said.

Meanwhile, the players the Lakers did acquire come as proven packages: Knight because he was a crowd and team favorite as a backup center and forward in his first Laker stint, and Harper because he has been playing hard defense and operating offenses since the 1983-84 season.

A year ago, Knight wanted to stay with the Lakers, but Boston offered him the big deal at a time when the Lakers could offer him only a fraction. With Boston, Knight was considered a washout, even though he had about the same statistics he had as a Laker rookie.

“I think when they first [signed] him and they were saying they needed a low-post center,” Harris said of Boston, “we were all saying to ourselves here, ‘They didn’t get that.’

“We saw him as a nice power forward, high-post center combination. And so he does fit into our style. He’s a complementary player.”

Knight started several games at power forward for the Lakers in his rookie season, serving as a relatively useful high-post bookend to Shaquille O’Neal.

“Travis helped us a little bit when he was here,” O’Neal said. “I’m sure he’s going to do the same thing with all that money he’s making.”

Before the Magic, the 6-foot-4 Harper had stints with the Dallas Mavericks (twice) and New York Knicks, whom he helped get to the 1994 NBA finals.

His role, Harris said, will be to show leadership to the Lakers’ host of young players (including third-year man Derek Fisher, the projected starter, and rookie Tyronn Lue, a first-round draft choice), and provide hard-nosed defense against some of the Western Conference’s more difficult point guards.

Said forward Robert Horry, who made his first appearance at Southwest: “I like Derek Harper. He’s one of those guys who’s going to come in and regulate stuff. He’s a very strong competitor and I think we need that, we need that veteran leadership, somebody who can go out there and get on us.”

Laker Notes

Free tickets for the Lakers’ open scrimmage on Jan. 27 at the Great Western Forum will be available starting today at 10 a.m. at the Forum box-office and all TicketMaster outlets, except Robinson’s-May locations.