Offense, Minutes Attract McKie

A seemingly clear path to significant playing time might have been enough for veteran swingman Aaron McKie, but the Lakers offered much more.

The challenge of trying to help restore the franchise’s luster, the chance to work under Coach Phil Jackson and the opportunity to operate in Jackson’s big-guard oriented triangle offense sealed the deal for the former free agent, whom the Lakers introduced Friday at their El Segundo offices.

They added another piece to a new-look roster, and McKie figured he had found a good fit.

“I don’t want anything to be given to me, I want to work for everything like I’ve done throughout my life, but coming out here gives me an opportunity to play a little bit more,” the 11-year veteran said. “And this program, if it’s not the best, it’s up there as far as how they treat their players.

“Any player in his career wants to win, and when it comes to winning this is the best organization to be a part of. Hopefully, they can get back to their winning ways here, and I definitely want to be a part of that.”

That’s the Lakers’ aim as they continue their push to restructure the roster to Jackson’s liking for his second tour, signing the 6-foot-5, 210-pound McKie to a two-year, $5-million contract. He rejected a $1.1-million offer to play behind Vince Carter in New Jersey, hoping to make another championship run in Los Angeles under a coach who has won nine titles.

Whatever Jackson wants, the newest Laker hoped to deliver.

“To me, Phil ... he’s an interesting guy,” McKie said. “When you’re playing basketball and you’re out on the floor, you hear coaches talk. You hear them say stuff.

“I rarely hear him say anything on the sideline. That’s kind of odd, but somehow he gets his players to understand him and buy into what he’s trying to sell.”

Jackson prefers versatile big guards and good defenders, and McKie fits the mold, though his career has declined the last few seasons.

The backcourt spot opposite Kobe Bryant is open, former Lakers Ron Harper and Brian Shaw thrived in the triangle offense later in their careers and McKie, who turns 33 in October, possesses other intangibles Jackson seeks for the position, points the Lakers stressed in trying to lure the former Philadelphia 76er.

“Quite frankly, in our discussions with him, I did bring up Ron Harper and Brian Shaw,” General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. “Phil’s first two years here, who did Kobe start opposite? Ron Harper. Ron was 35 or 36. Clearly, he wasn’t the athlete he once was, but with the triangle offense, we’re a two-guard front.

“We don’t have your prototypical point guard. We have two guys that bring the ball up. You have the initiator, and to initiate this offense it’s always better to have an initiator who’s big, so we’ve always looked for big guards in the triangle. Is Aaron any different than Brian Shaw or Ron Harper? I think he fits right into that group.”

It made sense to McKie.

“Judging from some of the guys that played here in the past, [the triangle offense] extended their careers and they were able to thrive,” he said. “I look at myself as being one of those guys to be able to play in the triangle offense, and maybe extend my career a little longer.”

The NBA’s sixth man of the year in 2001, when the 76ers lost in the NBA Finals to the Lakers, McKie was a victim of Philadelphia’s youth movement last season. Benched for most of the first half in favor of younger players, McKie averaged a career-low 2.2 points.

“It was tough from a standpoint of not playing,” he said. “The fun that I got out of it all was that a lot of the young guys I watched grow up in that organization got the opportunity to play.

“I watched those guys play and play well. That’s the thing that kept me going, some of the personal relationships I had with some of the guys, and watching those young guys develop.”

While at Temple in Philadelphia, McKie played in pickup games with Bryant, then a high school standout.

“He’s one of the better players in the league if not the best, and I admire what he does out on the floor,” McKie said. “He works hard and he plays with passion.

“I’m a basketball player, so I can sit back and enjoy watching somebody who I see playing with passion ... and wants to win every night.”

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Aaron McKie

The newest Laker finished the 2003-04 season ranked fifth in the NBA in three-point shooting (.436) but averaged only 2.2 points and 16.4 minutes a game for Philadelphia last season:

* Position: Guard.

* Age: 32.

* Height: 6-5.

* Weight: 209 pounds.

* College: Temple.

* Experience: 11 years.

* NBA teams: Portland, Detroit, Philadelphia.

* Off the bench: Named 2000-01 NBA sixth man of the year when he averaged 11.6 points, becoming the first 76er since Bobby Jones in 1983 to win the award.