Lakers’ point guards not worried about Chris Paul, yet

If Chris Paul joins the Lakers, Derek Fisher and Steve Blake would have considerably diminished roles.

If the New Orleans star doesn’t come, Fisher and Blake would go into the season knowing they weren’t the Lakers’ preferred options at point guard.

Is the proposed trade that could significantly upgrade their team a lose-lose proposition for the Lakers’ current primary ballhandlers?

Fisher, who has started every game since coming back to the Lakers before the 2007-08 season, acknowledged Saturday that he had mixed feelings about the possible addition of Paul.

“He will be one of the all-time greats as long as he stays healthy and keeps doing what he’s doing,” Fisher said of the four-time All-Star, whose statistics have dipped slightly since he underwent knee surgery in January 2010. “From that standpoint, of course” he would want Paul on his team.

“But from a personal competitive standpoint, of course I would want to play as many minutes as I can, and someone of his caliber coming to play my position means I would play less.”

Even though he has been a part of five NBA championship teams with the Lakers, Fisher said it wouldn’t be awkward to lose his starting spot to a player of Paul’s capabilities.

“Teams are always looking for the next best thing, and this is something you have to understand,” Fisher said. “For me, in terms of basketball, I don’t know what else I have to try and prove.

“At the end of the day, I’m still and always will be very confident in my abilities to help the team win, whether that’s in 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 10 minutes.”

Blake, who was considered a disappointment in his first season with the Lakers after signing a four-year, $16-million deal before last season, declined to discuss how Paul’s presence might affect his role.

“There’s nothing really to even talk about,” Blake said when asked whether he hoped Paul would join the Lakers. “If he comes, he comes; if he doesn’t, he doesn’t. Right now, our focus is on our team that’s here right now.”

Blake, 31, shot 35.9% last season, his lowest percentage in six years. He suggested that first-year Coach Mike Brown’s offense might suit him better than what the Lakers ran under Phil Jackson because the point guards have more decision-making responsibilities.

At 37, Fisher is acutely aware that he’s well into the back end of his career and that the Lakers could be on the verge of a youth movement.

“For years I’ve been accustomed to playing with the understanding that there’s always a need for improvement at the point guard position, so that’s not new news at all,” Fisher said. “That’s something I’ve always had to kind of deal with and just try to focus on doing my job the best I can for the team.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com