Lakers keep Walton in house

The Lakers brought back one of their free agents and expressed interest in one from another team in the first 24 hours of the free-agency period.

Forward Luke Walton agreed to terms on a six-year, $30-million contract to stay with the Lakers, bringing a key part of the triangle offense back into the fold.

The Lakers have also reached out to free-agent guard Steve Blake, who was with Denver last season and could turn out to be the efficient veteran ballhandling guard they’re seeking.

“They’re really interested,” a league source said.

Blake, 27, was traded early last season from Milwaukee to Denver and averaged 6.4 points and five assists in the Nuggets’ high-scoring offense. Steady but not flashy, he is a pass-first player who can hit open shots. At 6 feet 3, he also has decent height.

There’s a good chance he won’t re-sign with Denver, and the Lakers are desperate for a ballhandling guard.

Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar are the only ones who return from last season, and first-round draft choice Javaris Crittenton played only one season at Georgia Tech.

More-prominent free-agent point guards -- Detroit’s Chauncey Billups and Milwaukee’s Mo Williams -- are expected to re-sign with their teams for more money than the Lakers could offer.

The Lakers still have the mid-level exception at their disposal, and can offer a free agent a deal up to five years and about $30 million.

The mid-level exception can be spread out over more than one player, although Blake probably will earn the full mid-level exception, if not slightly below it.

Because Walton was the Lakers’ free agent, his signing will not count toward the mid-level exception.

The Lakers also have the veterans’ exception of about $1.3 million.

They cannot use their biannual exception of about $1.8 million because it was spent last season on Shammond Williams.

The Lakers made no secret of their desire to retain Walton, with General Manager Mitch Kupchak calling Walton’s agent at 9:01 p.m. Saturday, the earliest that teams could contact free agents.

“This is where I wanted to be all along,” Walton said. “I couldn’t be any happier to remain a Laker.”

Walton, 27, more than tripled the $1.4 million he made last season, his fourth in the league. He had career-high averages of 11.4 points, five rebounds and 4.3 assists last season.

An unrestricted free agent, he wanted to stay with the Lakers but expected to earn varying degrees of interest from 10 to 12 teams.

The Lakers cannot officially announce Walton’s signing until after the free-agent moratorium ends July 10.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com