Lakers prepared to go on without Bynum for playoffs
季后赛没有拜纳姆？ 湖人已做好准备！（交易走他？）
LOSANGELES -- The Lakers are the only NBAplayoff team whose successprompts both optimism and wistfulness, anacknowledgment of how goodthey've become and curiosity about how muchbetter they could be ifthey had Andrew Bynum.
在NBA的季后赛球队中，只有湖人队在胜利时，球队的自信和渴望在不断增加，他们已经知道他们已经变得很强，他们也很想知道如果拜纳姆也在的话他们得有多强？
Bynum,who averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in 35 games,hasn'tplayed since he injured his left knee in a game against Memphison Jan.13, and the official Lakers stance is there's no set target dateforhis return. That leaves everyone to wonder whether he'll be back intimeto join the Lakers during the playoffs. The only place, it seems,wherethere isn't much speculation is in the Lakers' locker room, asindicatedby Coach Phil Jackson's response to how Bynum's return wouldaffect thechemistry that's developed between Lakers big men Pau Gasoland LamarOdom.
"Andrew would come off the bench and we wouldplay him a little bit offthe bench if there was any chance that hewould come back and play,"Jackson said. "But it's such a remote thingthat we're really notseriously thinking about it."
That's a pretty clear indication of the Lakers' mind-set: Prepared to move on without him.
这很明显的看出湖人的观点：他们已经做好没有拜纳姆的准备了。
Kobe Bryant said he has told Bynum that themost important thing is forhim to take his time. Bynum talked to themedia on the last weekend ofthe regular season, saying the issue withhis knee was being able totrust it when he landed (he first injured itwhen it gave out when helanded). He's worried about overcompensating,which could cause otherinjuries.
After Lakers practice Monday, he said he was"feeling less pain."He tooksome shots with Trevor Ariza, anotherinjured Laker who is out ofaction. At one point Bynum even made ahalf-court shot after a challenge by Jordan Farmar.
But Bynum didn't seem like a full member ofthe team. He wore a whiteT-shirt, not a reversible purple-and-goldpractice jersey. Afterward hegot his knee wrapped by his personaltrainer, Sean Zarzana, not one ofthe many members of the Lakers' deeptraining staff. Then, as reporterswere cleared out of the practicegym, Bynum and Zarzana went to work outin what Bynum called the "firsttest" of his knee.
At the moment, the Lakers are particularlyshort-handed up front. ChrisMihm, who played a total of 82 games thepast two seasons, is back. ButRonny Turiaf, who has been a productivebackup, sat in the second halfof Sunday's victory over Denver and wassent home from practice Mondaywith what the team is calling a sorethroat. That sounds a lot betterthan when Jackson said on Sunday thatTuriaf was "diseased" -- as if hehad caught the bubonic plague.
To make it worse, DJ Mbenga suffered bruisedribs after he took a kneeto the body Monday in practice. The Lakersare calling both Turiaf andMbenga day-to-day.There are longer-termissues in play.
Bynum hadn't traveled with the Lakers for mostof the time after theinjury, missing out on the longest trip in L.A.team history when hestayed home from a nine-game trek that started 18days after he wentdown.
The Lakers brought Bynum along on the theirtrip to Sacramento andPortland for games on April 6 and 8 just to gethim back in the mix withhis teammates. Not only had he missed out onthe camaraderie-buildingroad trips while injured, he lost one of hisclosest friends on the teamwhen Javaris Crittenton went to Memphis inthe Gasol trade.
After the Lakers returned, Bynum went to NewYork to get his kneere-examined by his personal doctor, DavidAltcheck. Afterward, Bynum'sreturn timetable was reset, Jackson said,adding that, "There's still aprocess to go through again to get to thespot he was at before he wentback to see his doctor."
Eventually, everything in the NBA comes downto money, and there's a lotat stake for Bynum. He has one more yearremaining on his rookiecontract, but he can sign an extension thissummer. It's not good foryour negotiating position if you haven'tplayed in six months. It alsowouldn't be fair to judge him coming offa few weeks of tentative playas he re-adjusts to the game in the mostpressure-packed time of theyear.
On the other hand, Bynum's campdoesn't wanthim to be rushed back for the team's benefit at his ownlong-termexpense. On April 11, Bynum said the possibility of lastingdamage was"definitely a concern."
"You don't want to come back when you're notready, have your musclesshut down and do something really bad," Bynumsaid. "I want to get allthe way right before I return."
The Lakers don't want to alienate him. He'stheir most significant youngplayer since the last teenager theybrought aboard, a guy by the name ofKobe Bryant. They used the No. 10pick -- their highest in 11 years --to choose Bynum in the 2005 draft.They placed enough value in him topass on a trade for Jason Kidd lastyear, one of the managementdecisions that caused a frustrated Bryantto publicly air his tradedemands. On the other hand, the Lakers oweGasol $49.3 million over thenext three years, Lamar Odom $14.6 millionnext year and Bryant $69million over the next three years -- probablymore if he opts out afternext season and re-signs with the Lakers.
Do theLakers pay to keep all of them around? Do they pay Bynumthe money hewants if he'll be relegated to a backup behind Gasol andOdom, both ofwhom have played at All-Star levels lately? I'd take thelong-termview. Leave him out for these playoffs, so he won't have toplay withfear or extra pressure. Sign him to an extension this summer.If thefull house doesn't work out, if there isn't enough time and spaceto bedivvied up among the frontcourt players, they could always tradehim.
