Blount Released; Undrafted Green Makes Team

The Laker roster became crystallized Monday, with an old-timer on the way out and an undrafted rookie surviving the final cut.

Eleven-year veteran Corie Blount was waived by the Lakers, meaning Devin Green beat tough odds to make the team after going undrafted out of Hampton.

“He’s been a big surprise to us,” Coach Phil Jackson said.

Green, however, was later placed on the Lakers’ inactive list and could be a candidate for the Development League. Guard Von Wafer, the Lakers’ second-round pick, was also placed on the inactive list, as was injured forward Luke Walton.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, teams will have an active 12-man roster and can carry up to three more players on an inactive list. (The injured list ceases to exist.)

Players in their first or second pro seasons are eligible to be sent down to the Development League. The Lakers have four players who qualify under such terms: rookies Wafer, Green and Andrew Bynum, as well as second-year guard Sasha Vujacic.

A team official said all four could spend some time with the Lakers’ affiliate, the Fort Worth Flyers. Players can be sent down up to three times per season. Only two players can be sent down at a time.

Blount, for his part, did not play in any of the Lakers’ eight exhibition games. Because of a shortage of experienced Laker post players, Jackson had hoped to assess Blount’s abilities, but knee and foot injuries prevented Blount from playing.

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As expected, the Lakers exercised a contract option on forward Brian Cook that will keep him under contract through the 2006-07 season.

Cook, who has averaged 5.7 points over his first two seasons, will make $1.8 million next season. He would have become a restricted free agent at the end of this season if the Lakers had not exercised his contract option.

“It definitely gives me a lot of confidence to know the people that drafted me still want me,” Cook said. “I want to be here for the rest of my career, if possible.”

-- Mike Bresnahan

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The Clippers made news in Japan on Monday but probably few fans.

After vacillating for more than two hours after practice ended, they waived reserve point guard Yuta Tabuse with only about an hour to spare before the 3 p.m. deadline to set their 15-man opening-night roster.

The only Japanese-born player to have played in an NBA game lost out in his bid to make the team in a close race with journeyman Anthony Goldwire.

With starting point guard Sam Cassell about to turn 36 and rookie Daniel Ewing backing him up while Shaun Livingston is sidelined because of a back injury, the Clippers made the safer bet in retaining the 34-year-old Goldwire.

The 5-foot-9 Tabuse, 25, played in four games with Phoenix as a rookie last season. Goldwire is 6-2 and a veteran of seven NBA seasons.

“We felt like if Sam was to go down we’d be dealing with Daniel Ewing and Yuta, two relatively inexperienced guys [at point guard],” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “Is that a risk that we could take? We didn’t think so.”

Retaining Tabuse would have been a marketing coup for the Clippers. He has been featured on the cover of several magazines in his homeland and greeted enthusiastically by fans in Staples Center since signing with the Clippers in mid-September. Dunleavy, of course, was aware of the situation. But, “I was told, ‘You’ve got to make a basketball decision.’ This is about making the playoffs, and if it comes down to one game here or there, this [decision] was kind of important to us.”

-- Jerry Crowe