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The Lakers’ first headache will be to determine who’s on their team when training camp starts next Friday. Their next one will be figuring out a starting lineup.
When Andrew Bynum returns from a five-game suspension, Coach Mike Brown might take a long look at a large frontcourt of Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, an idea tossed around as a curiosity piece the last few years but never fully employed by Phil Jackson’s staff.
The move would send World Peace to the bench, which goes hand in hand with the Lakers’ concern about his physical shape. They hadn’t been allowed to contact him during the lockout, but he looked heavier when he arrived at the training facility, adding some of the weight he dropped last season.
Heavy or not, the Lakers will not use their amnesty provision on him or Luke Walton this season unless they acquire a starting small forward in a trade or free agency in the next few weeks. The Lakers need to keep World Peace right now because they’re not sure what free agents they can get with their limited spending power.
— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times
