Web-published 5:02 PT, Wednesday, January 20, 1999
Good Signs for Lakers?
Pro basketball: Harper will add depth at point guard, Knight
will come back from Celtics, and free agent Fox might stay.
TIM KAWAKAMI, Times Staff Writer
The
cloud
cover
cleared
a bit.
Some
mysteries
were
explained
Subtle
moves
were
placed
in a
bigger
context.
Looking
generally
pleased
with the
events
of the
week,
but not
disputing
there
were
some big
names who have so far
eluded his grasp,
Executive Vice President
Jerry West showed up for
the first time to his
team's informal workouts
at L.A. Southwest College
on Tuesday.
And by no
coincidence, the Laker
roster--with the impending
additions of Travis Knight
and Derek Harper--finally
is taking on a tangible
shape and feel.
Mostly, the
developing Laker roster
for 1999 looks a lot like
the roster for 1997-98,
and there is a big reason
for that.
"I think there's a
danger in messing around
with a team that won 61
games with a lot of
injuries last year and
hasn't been together very
long," West said.
"We would have to
think that this would be
looked upon as a powerful
team \[even\] if we didn't
do anything else."
In an interview
session that matched the
high-speed pace of the
last few days of
negotiations, West
confirmed these personnel
nuggets:
* The Lakers have a deal in
place to reacquire 1996
No. 1 pick Knight from the
Boston Celtics in a trade
for forward Tony Battie.
Both West and Coach
Del Harris indicated that
Knight, who signed a
seven-year, $22-million
free-agent deal with
Boston last off-season, is
a candidate to start at
power forward this
truncated season.
* Fifteen-year veteran
point guard Harper, who
played for the Orlando
Magic last season, has
agreed to sign with the
Lakers at the veteran
minimum of $1 million.
The Lakers had also
been pursuing Kevin
Johnson but were set to
offer him their
$1.75-million middle-class
exception, which is no
longer available to
Johnson because . . .
* Last season's starting
small forward, Rick Fox,
whom the Lakers originally
thought was not interested
in accepting the
middle-class exception,
now might be
reconsidering.
If Fox wants to
sign for the $1.75
million, West said, the
Lakers will hold it for
him.
Fox's agent, Mark
Portnoy, said Tuesday that
Fox has at least one
richer deal on the table,
but not, as once thought,
from the Atlanta Hawks,
who currently are offering
Fox the same $1.75-million
exception.
* Minnesota free-agent
forward Tom Gugliotta is
still a dim possibility in
a sign-and-trade scenario.
* There is no deal set up
yet to dispatch Laker
center-forward Elden
Campbell, who skipped the
workouts for the fifth
consecutive day.
But that doesn't
mean a trade can't be
worked out come training
camp, when teams that
refused the Lakers'
suggestions realize they
really do need a low-post
center.
* The Lakers were
interested in free-agent
forward Scottie
Pippen--and Pippen was
interested in coming to
the Lakers--but the Bulls'
demands doomed any Laker
deal.
Pippen has agreed
in terms to a
sign-and-trade deal that
would send him to the
Houston Rockets for a No.
2 pick and Roy Rogers.
"I think there was
great interest on
Scottie's part \[to come\]
here," West said.
But the Bulls
apparently were asking for
any package to include
Eddie Jones and not
Campbell and his
$7-million salary, and
West reportedly was
unmoved.
The Lakers also are
taking looks at veteran
power forwards such as
Charles Oakley, West said,
but have found that, in
all cases, either a trade
can not be worked out or
the salary cap figures are
impossible to massage.
With a labor deal
that makes it easier for
teams to keep their young
talent for the long haul,
there was no reason to
tear up the nucleus to
make a heedless, one- or
two-year, all-or-nothing
run, West said.
"Sacrificing
\[young players\] one year
to win a championship and
giving up a chance to win
a championship for
seven-eight years, I don't
think any of us would do
that," West said.
Meanwhile, the
players the Lakers did
acquire come as proven
packages: Knight because
he was a crowd and team
favorite as a backup
center and forward in his
first Laker stint, and
Harper because he has been
playing hard defense and
operating offenses since
the 1983-84 season.
A year ago, Knight
wanted to stay with the
Lakers, but Boston offered
him the big deal at a time
when the Lakers could
offer him only a fraction.
With Boston, Knight was
considered a washout, even
though he had about the
same statistics he had as
a Laker rookie.
"I think when they
first \[signed\] him and
they were saying they
needed a low-post center,"
Harris said of Boston, "we
were all saying to
ourselves here, 'They
didn't get that.'
"We saw him as a
nice power forward,
high-post center
combination. And so he
does fit into our style.
He's a complementary
player."
Knight started
several games at power
forward for the Lakers in
his rookie season, serving
as a relatively useful
high-post bookend to
Shaquille O'Neal.
"Travis helped us a
little bit when he was
here," O'Neal said. "I'm
sure he's going to do the
same thing with all that
money he's making."
Before the Magic,
the 6-foot-4 Harper had
stints with the Dallas
Mavericks (twice) and New
York Knicks, whom he
helped get to the 1994 NBA
finals.
His role, Harris
said, will be to show
leadership to the Lakers'
host of young players
(including third-year man
Derek Fisher, the
projected starter, and
rookie Tyronn Lue, a
first-round draft choice),
and provide hard-nosed
defense against some of
the Western Conference's
more difficult point
guards.
Said forward Robert
Horry, who made his first
appearance at Southwest:
"I like Derek Harper. He's
one of those guys who's
going to come in and
regulate stuff. He's a
very strong competitor and
I think we need that, we
need that veteran
leadership, somebody who
can go out there and get
on us." Free tickets for
the Lakers' open scrimmage
on Jan. 27 at the Great
Western Forum will be
available starting today
at 10 a.m. at the Forum
box-office and all
TicketMaster outlets,
except Robinson's-May
locations. trade with the
Celtics, could become
starter at power forward.
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