Oct

31

Bynum agrees to four-year extension worth $58M

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Andrew Bynum

The Los Angeles Lakers signed Andrew Bynum to a contract extension Thursday, removing the possibility the 21-year-old center would become an restricted free agent next summer.

The deal is worth about $58 million over four years, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing sources familiar with the negotiations.

The deal would keep Bynum under contract with the Lakers through the 2012-13 season, according to the report. The first three years of the deal are reportedly worth nearly $42 million, with a team option fourth year for about $16 million.

“We’re extremely happy to have signed Andrew to this extension, which will secure his immediate future with the franchise,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. “Andrew has shown a vast array of skills for a player his size and if he continues to stay dedicated and work hard to improve, he has an excellent chance to develop into one of the top players in the NBA.”

Bynum, the 10th overall pick in the 2005 draft, will make $2.8 million this season. If an agreement hadn’t been reached by Friday, the Lakers wouldn’t have been able to negotiate with him until after the season and he would have become an unrestricted free agent.

“This has been a fantastic week for me so far: turning 21, winning our first two games of the season, and now getting this new contract signed,” Bynum said. “This gives me and my family financial security, and more importantly, cements my future with the Lakers, which in my opinion is the best organization in all of professional sports. I couldn’t be happier.”

Bynum, a 7-foot, 285-pounder, established himself as one of the NBA’s up-and-coming big men last season before having season-ending knee surgery Jan. 13. He averaged 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.06 blocked shots in 35 games, 25 of them starts, before being injured.

The Lakers reached the NBA Finals without him, losing to the Boston Celtics in six games.

Bynum appears healthy now, making his team a solid favorite to win its first championship since 2002. He’s averaging 7.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in his career.

Bynum became the youngest player to be drafted in NBA history when the Lakers selected him following his graduation from St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, N.J.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Oct

27

Lakers cut Cobe Karl and pick up option on Farmar

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Coby Karl, who played in 17 games for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, was waived by the defending Western Conference champions Monday.

Karl, the son of Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, averaged 1.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 4.2 minutes as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Lakers. He also played in 17 games with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, averaging 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.1 steals.

The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior at Boise State two years ago. He ranks third on the school’s career scoring list with 1,698 career points and left the school as its leader in games played (127) and 3-pointers (266).

The move left the Lakers with 14 players on their roster entering Tuesday night’s season opener against Portland.

The Lakers also announced they had picked up the fourth-year option on guard Jordan Farmar’s contract. Farmar, a first-round draft pick in June 2006 beginning his third NBA season, could have become a restricted free agent next summer had the fourth-year option not been picked up by this Friday.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

Oct

22

Funny Check This Out

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Click on the image to see…  Very Funny 

 

King ED      

Oct

4

Lakers prepare for the new season!

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Well…it’s almost here. Lakers have started training camp, and at the end of this month we open the new season at home against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 28th at 7:30PM. So I think it’s a good time to start writing again, plus I needed the time off just to get over the loss to Boston! :)

There is lots of talk about how the Lakers will need to be tougher to be able to win in the finals and how the Celts just pounded the Lakers…and if the Bynum/Gasol show will be tough enough. I just can’t wait to see Andrew back…Lamar/Pau/Andrew/Fish/Kobe!!! WOW

Other things that made the news since the Lakers lost in the finals…

Kobe and gang brought the GOLD home, congratulations to the entire US Basketball team! We also got to see the newest Laker, Sun Yue, at the Olympics.

Kobe Bryant also decided to forego getting surgery on his right pinkie. The injury originally occurred on February 5th and Bryant passed on surgery at that time in order to complete the Lakers season and to subsequently play in the Olympics. It had been anticipated at the time of the injury that Kobe would get surgery after the Olympics and miss at least some of training camp, however, according to the release on kb24.com, further discussions with doctors revealed an estimated 12 weeks of recovery time.

Kobe said, “When the doctors told me recovery from a procedure could be 12 weeks, I just decided now was not the time to have surgery. What it really came down to for me is that I just didn’t want to miss any time ‘punching the clock’ for the Lakers, given all we are trying to accomplish as a team this NBA season.”

Kobe is expected to participate fully in training camp and the upcoming pre-season and regular season.

You can read the full release on kb24.com.

Luke Walton had ankle surgery in mid-July to remove bone spurs and scar tissue and to clean up some cartilage debris from his right ankle.

Sasha Vujacic was re-signed, but we lost Ronny Turiaf to free agency.

Looking forward to a successful season - GO LAKERS!

- Leo

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