It Could Be a Rich Deal for Lakers

By BILL PLASCHKE

July 24, 2001 12 AM PT

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So into another universe Mitch Richmond stepped Monday, seven gold moons glowing down from the window of Jerry Buss’ office, the atmosphere thick with that strange substance known as promise.

“I’ve been taking a lot of vacations in June,” Richmond said, eyes wandering.

In the middle of the practice gym he sat, uneasily, a Laker with no championship jewelry on his finger, no bravado in his face.

“Everyone wants a ring,” he said.

So here he is, a sort of Ray Bourque in high tops, a six-time all-star on all-stink squads, a former Dream Team member whose real teams were nightmares.

Thirteen years, two winning records.

Nine hundred twelve games, only 21 in the playoffs.

One last chance to change that.

Richmond signed here not for the money--the rebuilding Washington Wizards gave him $10 million to get lost--but for that chance.

“I want to be in a situation where I’m playing for something,” he said.

It is a situation sought by many veteran athletes these days, a concession to one of the modern sports world’s greatest paradoxes.

As the swaggering young stars increasingly boast about personal statistics, the public increasingly covets only team championships.

No longer is it a sign of greatness to win a scoring or batting title. Today, one is considered great only upon winning a team title.

Charles Barkley’s career will be forever considered incomplete without one.

Mitch Richmond is coming to Los Angeles to get one.

The Lakers, who finalized his one-year, $1-million contract Friday and brought him to town Monday, think the timing is perfect.

They need a third scorer off the bench, an outsider shooter who can take advantage of the new rules that will allow opponents to run zone or gimmick defenses that will smother Shaquille O’Neal.

Even at 36 and with sore knees, Richmond averaged 16.2 points on mostly outside shots for the Wizards last season. That’s almost exactly what Glen Rice averaged as the Lakers’ third scorer two seasons ago.

“The last two years haven’t been well or kind for me, but I still feel I can play the game the right way,” Richmond said.

The Lakers also need a guy who, unlike Rice, won’t complain about lack of shots or playing time. Richmond claims he has played long enough to understand what’s important.

“When you first come into the league, you don’t have a grasp of a lot of things around you--you just want to play ball,” he said. “But in the process you find out, it’s about the team. You want to do things to make the team proud.”

Finally, perhaps more than anything, the Lakers also need a guy to allow them to finally give up on that bum with the initials.

So, after talking to Richmond on Monday, we asked the other Mitch.

Have you finally given up on that bum with the initials?

“We’ll never say never, that would be ridiculous,” Mitch Kupchak said. “But, on the other hand, we wanted a big guard, and Mitch is a big guard.”

So Kupchak phoned J.R. Rider last week to tell him they were going to sign the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Richmond.

Rider still hasn’t called him back.

He must be tied up in that personal business that prevented him from spending a couple of hours a day for a couple of weeks in the summer league.

Contrast that to Richmond, who was so eager to sign here, he did so without making a visit, without talking to any Lakers on the phone, and only talking briefly to Coach Phil Jackson.

“Sometimes you have to put your ego out of it,” Richmond said. “You have to look at the overall picture.”

Watching Richmond move up on the all-time scoring list this season--he ranks 25th--Laker fans might see a picture tinted with regret.

Remember, Richmond was nearly a Laker three seasons ago, almost coming here from Sacramento for Eddie Jones, until owner Jerry Buss killed the deal because of Richmond’s salary.

It was a failed move that drove then-general manager Jerry West crazy, such that he eventually sent Jones to Charlotte for Rice.

Some think that if they acquired Richmond in the spring of 1999, with his veteran leadership, they would have won three consecutive NBA championships by now.

Oh well. You know what they say. Better late than Lue.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s always hard to lose a mascot, but face it: Tyronn Lue was never going to play regularly for Jackson, and was only activated during the playoffs for his defense against similarly small guards.

His departure for the Wizards in the same summer that Richmond comes to town is a good deal for the Lakers.

Acquiring Lindsey Hunter to monitor point guard until Derek Fisher returns from foot surgery by at least January is a decent deal, especially because it cost them only bench-warmer Greg Foster. Hunter will score some, and maybe Jackson can convince him to guard somebody.

The signing of Samaki Walker, who will come to town today, is the most questionable of the Laker moves.

Certainly, he is only replacing Horace Grant, who only replaced A.C. Green, both of whom showed that the Lakers can probably win a championship with a lamp post playing power forward.

Then again, the Lakers did try to re-sign Grant, who did play good playoff defense against the likes of Chris Webber and Tim Duncan.

And, well, they will need a tough guy to get them to the playoffs. Which, as we all know, is the point where Robert Horry begins paying attention.

So far in his young career, Walker has not been that guy.

If this 25-year-old underachiever fails to appreciate the opportunity to play for a team that can make history, maybe Richmond can remind him.

Here’s guessing that, at various times next winter, he will remind all of them.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com

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