L.A.’s Prospects: the Great Divide

Nine whirlwind days since the title and the tears, there is already the drumbeat for a repeat, sounded first and loudest, of course, by Phil Jackson, who has managed the back-to-back bounty several times.

The NBA draft is tonight, and though the pickings by their No. 29 overall spot may be slim, the Lakers hope their selection will not be, since they are looking to land either a potential starting power forward, physical backup center or athletic wing player.

Talks with free-agents, including their own, can begin Saturday, but no signings or sign-and-trade deals can occur until Aug. 1.

The Lakers will soon either decide or know the fate of several of their veteran players who have option years in their contracts, including 1999-2000 starters Ron Harper (who will probably return) and A.C. Green (who may not).

But those are dates, short-term issues and schedules. Jackson was looking at a bigger picture Tuesday, and long-range calibrations.

“We’re able to take a short summer and reflect on it and come back with a desire to do it again,” the Laker coach said from the team’s El Segundo headquarters Tuesday in the middle of preparations for today’s draft.

“That’s what I’ve been telling these guys--we want to prove that we deserve it. And that’s what you do when you win it twice, you imprint in people’s minds that this is truly a championship team, a team that won it twice.

“Those are the teams that really make an impression on basketball around this league.”

Jackson’s Chicago Bull teams twice won three titles in succession, and won six over an eight-season period, broken only by the semi-retirement of Michael Jordan.

Each of those Bull teams underwent tinkering from season to season, sometimes minor, sometimes much more than that.

And, Jackson emphasized, with the race to retool beginning now, the long-range view of the Lakers has not changed.

They won 67 regular-season games and the NBA championship despite holes at power forward and backup center--and despite a lack of athleticism across the roster, and tonight, the Lakers start patching again.

“We have an older roster, and we’ve got some criteria about [staying below the upcoming luxury tax] that’s going on in the next year,” Jackson said. “But we’re going to try to stay intact as much as we can with what’s gotten us to this place.

“We’d like to increase our size, get stronger and younger at the power forward and backup center spots--the same things we said at the start of the season. We need to have bigger bodies both at center and power forward to help control the lane.”

What does that mean for Green, John Salley and some of the other players who were tossed into spots next to or behind Shaquille O’Neal--or Glen Rice, a free agent most likely to be traded in exchange for a livelier, stronger player?

Realistically, the Lakers could have a whole new starting forward combination next November.

“I’d like to have them back--I’d like to have everybody back, there’s no doubt about it,” Jackson said. “When you get a group of guys that work as well as this group did, the least amount of friction, the most feel-good moments . . .

“It’d be nice to have a continuing group. But free agency changes a lot of things. We almost can’t even discuss Glen legitimately [as Laker property].

“It’s very possible that we’ll have two new starters in our lineup--it’s very possible.”

Some of the issues, and answers:

* This is a draft filled with interesting taller prospects, and post players such as Stanford’s Mark Madsen, Kentucky’s Jamaal Magloire, Utah’s Hanno Mottola or Florida’s Donnell Harvey could fall to the Lakers’ slot, any one of which could be an upgrade, at least as a backup.

“It’s not bad,” General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. “I would say there are at least as many bigger players as there are guards that are desirable.

“You always have guards and smaller players outnumber the bigger players, but there are some big players out there that are pretty good . . . Obviously, the underclass situation helped a lot--you look at the list of the top big men, they’re mostly all underclassmen.”

If the Lakers don’t go big, they could look at athletic wing players with the ability to run the floor, handle the ball and shoot from the perimeter.

“We look for people that can play with poise,” Jackson said. “We look for players that can shoot the ball in the mid-range area without having to do a lot of one-on-one backing in, holding the ball . . . and we look for players that have skills passing and ball-handling and have good footwork.”

(The Lakers do not have a second-round choice--they traded it to Dallas last summer in the Green-Sean Rooks deal.)

* In the free-agent market, the Lakers are limited by the salary cap (they are way over) and owner Jerry Buss’ determination not to add significant payroll, but they do have the $2.2-million mid-level and $1-million cap exceptions available.

After Aug. 1, the Lakers are also expected to trade Rice, either for a small forward better suited to Jackson’s system (possibly Toni Kukoc) or for a power forward/backup center (Christian Laettner, Antonio Davis, Charles Oakley).

Jackson said he’d like to add at least two big men--a young player and a veteran--but said he has learned from last summer’s experience, when free agents Oakley and Lorenzen Wright talked about taking less money to win a title with the Lakers, then jumped for bigger offers.

“That tease that we’ve had in the past has kind of made us pessimistic that we could really find anybody who wants to play basketball for winning’s sake,” Jackson said.

* Harper, 36, probably will be asked back, and he has said he will return if Jackson wants him. Harper also suggested he hopes for some rest periods in 2000-01, instead of the 103 games (80 regular-season and 23 playoff) he played this season.

“Harp’s more than likely one of the guys we want to have back on this team,” Jackson said. “He played an important role . . . He knows I’m going to try and make it an easier role than he had this last year.”

Guard Brian Shaw, 34, is a free agent, but the Lakers probably will also seek to bring him back.

* The Lakers may choose not to exercise their $1.9-million option for 2000-01 on Green, also 36, who could retire or try to find another team.

“I don’t know about A.C. being back yet,” Jackson said. “We’ve got a decision to make. There’s some big decisions for us.”

* Assistant Tex Winter, 78, has not said whether he will return or retire, but has been at team headquarters often since the championship.

“Tex has not made up his mind,” Jackson said. “That’s his decision. I think he’ll sit down and talk to his kids about it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NBA Draft

Where Minneapolis

When Today

TV TNT

Time 4:30 p.m. PDT

*

WHERE THEY PICK

No. 1 New Jersey

Clippers Nos. 3, 18, 30

Lakers No. 29

*

MOCK DRAFT

Mark Heisler breaks down the first round, from Kenyon Martin to Hidayet Turkoglu. Page 4

SCOTT NETS JOB

Former Laker Byron Scott signs a three-year contract to coach the New Jersey Nets. Page 5