Mitch Kupchak: ‘[Dwight Howard] is on Track. He Should Recover Completely’

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak recently spoke to SI about a number of issues, and as expected, he touched on new LA big man Dwight Howard’s health and what’ll be expected from Howard come late October: “SI.com: Can you update Dwight’s status? How is his back coming along? Kupchak: We had the doctors and the back people obviously examine him and he’s on track. He should recover completely. Certainly, we’re not going to rush him to play in the first practice or the first preseason game or the first game. It’s going to be when he feels and when our people feel he’s completely recovered. But our understanding of the rehabilitation is that he’s on track to a complete recovery. SI.com: Any sense of a timeline? Is the regular-season opener still a possibility? Kupchak: We haven’t had those kinds of discussions. There’s no need for anybody to set a timeline right now, but we’re comfortable with his work and where he’ll be.”