A Luxury They Probably Won’t Have to Afford

The Lakers made a habit of paying the luxury tax in the past but are not expected to pay it this season, for the first time since the concept was introduced before the 2001-02 season.

The Laker payroll is about $59 million when calculating luxury taxes, almost $3 million below the luxury-tax threshold of $61.7 million. Teams that exceed the threshold pay a dollar-for-dollar penalty.

The Laker payroll last season was about $69 million, about $14 million over the $55-million level at which the luxury tax kicked in for 2004-05.

The Lakers could make some minor moves before the Feb. 23 trade deadline but will probably not end up paying luxury taxes unless “some team offers us a no-brainer,” a team official said. At any time, the Lakers could sign a player to a 10-day contract, but it would add minimally to their payroll.

Luxury taxes, designed to financially penalize free-spending owners, are officially calculated after the season.

Laker General Manger Mitch Kupchak declined to comment, citing team financial policies.

The Lakers have an actual payroll of about $73 million, but Brian Grant’s salary of $13.8 million is not taxable because the Lakers waived him in August via the one-time amnesty provision.

The Lakers remain about $10 million above the soft salary cap of $49.5 million but are on course to be below the cap after the 2006-07 season.

The Lakers are worth $529 million, a $21-million gain from last season, according to a recent report in Forbes magazine.

They are the league’s second-most-valuable franchise, behind the New York Knicks.

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Shaquille O’Neal’s production is down and his weight is up, but Laker Coach Phil Jackson didn’t want to talk about the latter before Monday’s game.

“I’m not going to weigh in on that one,” he said, evoking laughter from reporters. “I think that water’s a little deep. I think that Shaq measures himself against a season. I’ve always given him credit for that. He knows what the end goal is, and he’s got a tremendous amount of pride. He’ll be there when the playoffs are going, and he’s going to be probably at his peak at that time.”

O’Neal, who weighs 339 pounds according to recent reports, was averaging career lows of 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds before Monday.

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Laker draft pick Ronny Turiaf attended Monday’s game after undergoing a physical earlier in the day.

“It’s not going to be an issue,” Turiaf said. “I’m certain about it. I’ve already passed [earlier tests]. This is more like a follow-up.”

Turiaf, 23, had open-heart surgery in July. He was cleared to play by Laker doctors last month and averaged 13 points and 6.3 rebounds in nine games with the CBA’s Yakama (Wash.) Sun Kings.