The Ripe Stuff

After three consecutive NBA championships, the Lakers have had their down year, revealed their weakened sides, played themselves to the nubs of their regular-season competitive urges.

The other 28 teams had their shot at the Lakers, and now it’s the other 15, in an NBA postseason that starts today in some places, Sunday in others, including Minnesota, where the Laker dynasty opens as the fifth-seeded team in the West.

In the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant-Phil Jackson era, defined by strife followed by success three years running, the Lakers might never again be as vulnerable as they are today, with 50 wins and on the eve of their fourth postseason together.

It was these Lakers, after all, who frightened their front office with their old legs and casual defense and frozen learning curve until New Year’s Day, and these very Lakers who, come summer, have the money and roster space to add a front-line power forward and guard who would refresh the lineup around O’Neal and Bryant.

At power forward, a traditionally weak position for the Lakers, there are at least four potential or outright free agents -- Utah’s Karl Malone, New Orleans’ P.J. Brown, Denver’s Juwan Howard and Sacramento’s Keon Clark -- who could start beside O’Neal. Clark, who signed last summer with the Sacramento Kings, can opt out of his contract at the conclusion of the season. The other three are unrestricted, and one of them could join veteran guard Scottie Pippen, an unrestricted free agent in Portland with professional and personal ties to Jackson, on a dramatically improved Laker team next season.

Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal also is unrestricted but, at 24, he’s young to be taking cuts in playing time or salary for the lure of a championship. The others -- Malone will be 40 this summer, Brown is 33, Howard is 30 and Clark is 28 -- have watched the Lakers rebuild around O’Neal and almost certainly could be persuaded to take the mid-level exception (about $4.6 million) to come to Los Angeles.

That would leave the $1.3 million exception -- or the veteran’s minimum ($1 million) -- for Pippen, if he chose to reunite with Jackson for one more run at a ring. They won six together in Chicago, and Jackson has made no secret of his continued admiration for Pippen, at 37 still a deft floor leader and facilitator.

On a gray afternoon, Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak sat behind a cluttered desk, having arrived at the postseason that once tried his patience and ultimately satisfied him. Last summer was one of maintenance for him. Kupchak re-signed Devean George, Brian Shaw and Slava Medvedenko and added two young guards, Kareem Rush in the draft and Jannero Pargo as an undrafted free agent.

This off-season should be different. Mark Madsen, Samaki Walker, Tracy Murray, Shaw and Pargo are free agents, and Robert Horry can be, if the club chooses not to exercise its option.

The mid-level exception -- spent on George last year -- is available, and owner Jerry Buss has said he expects to spend it in what could be a rigorous financial period for him. O’Neal is due for an extension at the end of the summer and those close to Bryant expect him to opt out of his contract after next season, poke around in free agency, then re-sign with the Lakers for seven more years. Jackson’s contract also ends after next season.

In the short term, Kupchak could switch out Walker and Shaw for, say, Howard and Pippen, pick up Horry’s option and bring back Madsen and Pargo on smaller, affordable deals.

While stipulating that his preference was to draw no immediate personnel conclusions, Kupchak said, “We’ll have some roster space and then we’ll have some financial flexibility. We’ll wait until we see the playoffs end before we decide how to utilize that.”

In the meantime, the glut of free-agent power forwards comes at an opportune time for the Lakers. By one account, Malone’s wife already has looked at homes in Los Angeles, and it is believed that Shaquille O’Neal has extended an invitation to the ageless Malone to “come get a ring.” Malone, whose occasional spats with Jazz ownership followed by Laker ogling have become ritual, still is among the league leaders in scoring and rebounding.

Howard, who has spent two agonizing years in Denver, has played in 13 playoff games in nine NBA seasons. He has told friends he would take a mid-level deal -- down from the $20.6 million he made this season -- to play for a winner, and he has been a third scorer before, when he bided for shots in Dallas behind Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley.

Brown made $7 million this season, and the hometown New Orleans Hornets (he’s from Winnfield, La.) will attempt to re-sign him. But the lure of Los Angeles could bring Brown, who is said to be desperate to win a championship.

Clark has wobbled some as the “final piece” this season with Sacramento, but he runs the floor well and blocks shots and rebounds. If the Kings have a strong postseason, it could convince Clark to stay.

Kupchak said speculation was premature, that the organization had not even reached a conclusion on Horry, “other than knowing he can play in this league for two, three, four more years.... Let’s wait until we see how this playoff thing ends.

“I don’t want to start talking about needs as far as a power forward or a guard, because we might have two months to play and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or speak prematurely. You never know what could happen in the next two months. You could have a big performance out of a player who’s not playing much right now. To state that we have a need at a position, I’d rather wait. But we do have flexibility, [in terms of] roster space and financially. A lot of times you don’t have that.”

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Stepping Up When the Chips Are Down

How NBA playoff teams have done in close games this season (teams listed in alphabetical order):

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