Bynum Remains Glued to the Bench

The minutes have been few and fruitless for Andrew Bynum since the All-Star break, leaving no mystery as to where he is in the Laker pecking order.

“He’s at the end of the bench,” Coach Phil Jackson said Saturday. “He got a couple of seconds the other night.”

Jackson said two weeks ago that Bynum would have to develop into a relatively productive player because the “pressure’s going to kind of accumulate on him the last third of the season, particularly if our injuries continue to plague us at that position.”

But Bynum has totaled 11 minutes in three appearances since then, including five seconds of court time Friday against Golden State. He has sat out five of the Lakers’ eight games since the break, and there are no more guarantees of playing time from Jackson.

“Right now, we have to win games,” Jackson said. “That’s our No. 1 priority.”

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The Lakers have engaged in talks with Jim Jackson in an effort to sign the 14-year veteran guard-forward, who was waived last week by Phoenix.

Jackson, 35, could add an outside touch down the stretch for a team that has shot inconsistently. The Lakers have $2.5 million remaining from their midlevel exception and could offer Jackson a prorated portion of it, about $500,000 for the rest of the season.

Jackson, 6 feet 6 and 220 pounds, played in 27 games this season for the Suns and averaged 3.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 15.6 minutes. He has not played since Jan. 4.

Last season, he averaged 8.8 points and 3.9 rebounds and added a veteran presence to a Phoenix team that won a league-best 62 games and lost to San Antonio in the Western Conference finals.