Turiaf Could Join the Team This Season

Ronny Turiaf is closer than anyone expected to becoming a member of the Lakers this season.

The second-round draft pick, who underwent open-heart surgery in July, will visit team doctors next week and, if he receives clearance, could begin practicing.

“To date, the [medical] results have been very encouraging,” Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. “That’s where it is right now. It’s not that far-fetched for him to be a part of this team this season.”

Turiaf, 22, pledged to return to the court after he had surgery to repair an enlarged aortic root. He is currently a graduate assistant coach with Gonzaga and has scrimmaged with the nationally ranked Bulldogs numerous times.

“What he does on his own, although we’re aware of it, that’s done with his knowledge and the doctor who did the surgery” at Stanford University Medical Center, Kupchak said. “Obviously, if he is scrimmaging and he’s listening to his doctors, he’s gotten permission to do that. He’s going to have to clear our doctors too. ... We hope to have him see our doctors within a week to 10 days.”

If Turiaf is medically cleared by Laker doctors, the team would work him out to determine his basketball conditioning. If all is satisfactory, the Lakers would have to waive a player to make room for Turiaf. Devin Green and Von Wafer would be the main possibilities.

“We knew we liked him during the summer and we felt he earned a spot on our roster just by his play this summer,” Kupchak said. “We love his energy and the little things he does.”

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Coach Phil Jackson, who reportedly irritated a member of the Toronto Raptor front office by heaping praise on Raptor forward Chris Bosh last week, was slightly more guarded when asked about Indiana Pacer forward Ron Artest’s trade demand.

“I don’t want to broach the ire of the league by saying that we would want this player because that’s not how you go about this business, to publicly say that,” Jackson said. “Indiana has wanted to stay with Ron and I think they still want to stay with Ron. I don’t see how you’re going to get [trade] value out of this player who, in my estimation, is one of the most valuable players in the league. Of course, I estimate him perhaps higher than other people, but I think he’s a terrific player and he adds a big dimension to every game he plays in.”

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With Pat Riley returning to coach the Miami Heat, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant won’t be the only Christmas Day plot line in Miami.

Riley and Jackson used to be enemies, with Jackson even accusing Riley of trying to hurt opposing players when Chicago and New York were Eastern Conference rivals.

They have gradually developed a more friendly rapport, but Jackson understands that Riley-Jackson will be strongly hyped on Dec. 25.

“Television will get a little more mileage out of that, that’s for sure,” he said, smiling. “Maybe people will buy newspapers.”

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Magic Johnson, Laker vice president and minority owner, likes what he has seen of rookie center Andrew Bynum but favors the 19-year-old age rule for potential NBA draftees.

“These guys can’t come out of high school no more,” he said. “I’m getting tired of seeing that because they’re not ready. As much as I like our guy, it’s still going to take him three years to get it together, just like it took Jermaine O’Neal, Kobe, all of them. It takes time.”