Lakers’ Newest Trio Is Upbeat

The Lakers have been a study in tumult recently, sending away their coach, franchise center and half of the veteran one-two combo acquired last summer.

Stability? Only six players remain from the playoff roster and Karl Malone is in no hurry to make career decisions as the days go by slowly at his ranch in El Dorado, Ark.

Even so, the Lakers’ newest three acquisitions are throwing around the word “stability” as if that’s been the keynote every day since Shaquille O’Neal put his Beverly Hills mansion on the market and boarded a plane for Florida.

Chucky Atkins, Marcus Banks and Chris Mihm were introduced Monday at the Laker training facility, eager faces who came from the Boston Celtics, a 36-46 team last season that got swept in the first round of the playoffs.

Acquired in last Friday’s trade that sent away Gary Payton and Rick Fox, each comes with a story of dispossession and discord that is comparatively minor when held up to the upheaval of the Lakers, but relatively absorbing when examined individually.

Mihm, 25, was the seventh pick in the 2000 draft, a 7-footer who set numerous blocked-shot and rebounding records at the University of Texas and was expected to be the centerpiece of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He never was.

He continued to develop as a shot blocker, but his offense was inconsistent and so was his playing time. He didn’t have the best surroundings, playing for four coaches in Cleveland before being traded to Boston after 22 games last season, but he’s hoping the three-year, $11.4-million deal he signed with the Lakers will be a new start.

“It was tough to be [in Cleveland] for the bottoming out of an organization,” said Mihm, who has averaged 6.9 points as a pro. “You can’t get comfortable in a system where you’ve got new coaches coming in, sometimes two every year. That wasn’t a stable situation. I still feel like my best basketball’s ahead of me. Getting in a solid position with a stable coach, a stable organization is going to be huge for me. I think that’s why my game’s really going to take off.”

Point guard Chucky Atkins can relate to the importance of timing. An on-again, off-again starter throughout his career, Atkins was acquired by the Celtics before last season’s trade deadline and played the best basketball of his career, averaging 12 points and 5.3 assists as the Celtics sneaked into the playoffs. The punch line: The team that traded him to the Celtics, the Detroit Pistons, won the NBA title four months later.

Atkins, now on his fourth team in five seasons, doesn’t seem daunted by the past. He’s expected to start for the Lakers.

“Now that the big fella’s gone, they’re saying it’s going to be an up-tempo style. That’s perfect for me,” he said. “I’m a smaller guy. I can get up and down the court.

“People who come to see the Lakers are used to the old Showtime, and Magic Johnson getting up and down the court. I think Kobe and Lamar [Odom] and Caron Butler and Brian Grant, we have an athletic team, a young team, and we can get out and make some things happen.”

Banks, who represents entertainment value with his speed but volatility with his poor shot selection and ill-timed turnovers, got caught in a front-office tug-of-war in his first NBA season. He was selected 13th overall in the 2003 draft and was designated an important part of the future by Danny Ainge, Celtic executive director of basketball operations.

But former coach Jim O’Brien wanted to go with more experienced players and the disagreement was part of the reason O’Brien quit midway through the season.

“I’ve been around a year and I’ve already been through a lot,” said Banks, who averaged five points and 15 minutes.

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Kobe Bryant attended last month’s introductory news conference for Odom, Butler and Grant, but he was not there for Monday’s more informal get-together.

Luke Walton was the only player there from last year’s team, but his appearance was all business. As Atkins, Banks and Mihm answered reporters’ questions, Walton worked on his outside shot at an adjacent court with a private shooting coach.

Atkins, Banks and Mihm will have to change their jersey numbers. Mihm was No. 4, Atkins No. 7 and Banks No. 11, numbers that were worn last season by other Lakers. Walton was No. 4, Brian Cook was No. 7, and Malone will get his No. 11 back if he returns.