Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 12:00 pm  |  40 responses

Mitch Kupchak Gives Andrew Bynum the Seal of Approval

by Marcel Mutoni

They may be Kobe’s team, but anyone who watched the NBA Finals a couple months ago knows the truth: In many ways, the fortunes of the Los Angeles Lakers rest on the surgically repaired knee of one Andrew Bynum.

His health is the elephant in the room; should his knee hold up, the sky is the limit for this squad.

GM Mitch Kupchak went to see his prized center workout in Atlanta, and he came away impressed. From the Orange County Register:

“Andrew has dedicated another summer to getting into the best possible shape,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “A month ago he was cleared from the knee surgery he had and at that point he began working on conditioning and getting into shape and I thought he looked like he has made progress.”

“I could see improvement in his body, his conditioning and mobility,” Kupchak said. “I didn’t see any signs of effects from the surgery.”

Hmm, so does this mean that someone is about ready to whip out the ol’ checkbook?

I’ll temper my excitement until I see the big fella go full-speed against real competition. Here’s to hoping all goes well for young Andrew.

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  • mat smith Posted: Aug.29 at 12:05 pm
    give him a six year deal mitch!

  • TADOne Posted: Aug.29 at 12:05 pm
    Good for Andrew.

  • vmcb Posted: Aug.29 at 12:06 pm
    I wish the best for Bynum.
    For the Lakers, however..

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.29 at 12:19 pm
    Improvement in mobility and conditioning? Uh oh. Watch out Western Conference, Team yellow/purple is STACKED. a full training camp between a healthy Gasol (no broken foot this tournament, guess he didn’t want that medal that much) and Bynum is gonna make this a great year for them. The Center position is growing in importance with Oden, Bynum and Yao doing their thing.

  • riggs Posted: Aug.29 at 12:22 pm
    i still remember the day when slamonline went all crazy when he got hurt (ok mostly the laker fans)

  • Ken Posted: Aug.29 at 12:25 pm
    Co-sign VMCB

  • Mendel Posted: Aug.29 at 12:40 pm
    Shaq better watch out. Cause this boy is coming after them all and I’m sure he remembers Christmas

  • a_whiteman Posted: Aug.29 at 1:02 pm
    co-sign kens co-sign

  • jdubbs29 Posted: Aug.29 at 1:08 pm
    Actually its the Blazers who look stacked this year.
    Oden, Fernandez, Roy etc? That’s a great team right there.

  • Double J Posted: Aug.29 at 1:34 pm
    c’mon now no one is going to top the lakers in the west, they did it last year (reminder in the STACKED west) and they’ll do it again this year.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Aug.29 at 1:36 pm
    Just wait till he wants his 80 million

  • ciolkstar Posted: Aug.29 at 1:37 pm
    He was on both my fantsy teams last year, so I was almost as devastated by his loss as Laker bandwagoners. I really think if he stays healthy he can surpass Dwight in a year or two.

  • Myles Brown Posted: Aug.29 at 1:46 pm
    Yawn.

  • mike c Posted: Aug.29 at 1:54 pm
    Bynum will be the next great center in this league.

  • Double J Posted: Aug.29 at 2:07 pm
    but on a side note i’ll be very excited to see the lakers v blazers rivalry renewed… oden/bynum,kobe/roy, odom/outlaw this should be fun to watch!!

  • Ken H. Posted: Aug.29 at 2:54 pm
    God I hope he can stay healthy. I’m salivating at the thought of opening night with him and Pau playing the 4 and 5. With Odom up front too, that’s 2 seven-footers and a 6’10 small forward! Then throw in Kobe and Fisher, I don’t think there’s a better starting lineup in the NBA. Let’s just hope the chemistry is still there with Bynum in the mix.

  • Irishpaul Posted: Aug.29 at 3:10 pm
    The two things the laker’s need to improve on in order to get Kobe his first solo ring? Rebounding and defense. Two things (at the very least) that a healthy Bynum brings to the table? Rebounding and defense. If everything goes to plan, In the word’s of Kenny Smith, “It’s over Ladies and gentlemen!”

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.29 at 3:53 pm
    Double J: Rudy vs… Sasha?

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.29 at 3:55 pm
    Knicks are trading for Patrick Ewing Jr, by the way. Apparently the Knicks execs haven’t watched him play at all, just read his name.

  • Diesel Posted: Aug.29 at 3:59 pm
    Does anyone else think that 3 seven footers down low will clog the lane on offense? Odom scores most of his points by driving the lane, Kobe too. Gasol and Bynum both need to play around the rim. There’s gonna be a log jam in the middle preventing easy scores. I don’t think the lakers will be as good offensively this year as everyone thinks.

  • DP Posted: Aug.29 at 4:02 pm
    Yeah Kobe is pissing me off so Andrew better show up. I’ll give him sometime though seeing that he just came off surgery. 17 and 9 shouldn’t be out of the kid’s range this year.

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.29 at 4:39 pm
    Diesel: Bynum posts up and Gasol scores facing the basket. I don’t think it will be that much of an issue.

  • Bruno Posted: Aug.29 at 7:23 pm
    the west is getting worst than last year..
    lakers with Bynum
    hornets with posey
    portland with, well, oden, rudy and bayless
    houston with yao and artest
    san antonio, as always…
    while the east… oh god…
    detroit is only losing ground… year after year.
    so, who do you guys think is gonna play boston this year’s finals?

  • Double-You J Posted: Aug.29 at 7:27 pm
    @ jdubbs29, Double J: Blazers/Lakers “rivalry?” Like the rivalry the Blazers haven’t won since like ’91? Don’t get me wrong the Blazers look good (in 2011), but to call it a renewed rivalry is a bit of a stretch. “Kobe/Roy” as a comparison about sums it up.

  • Double-You J Posted: Aug.29 at 7:29 pm
    Oh yeah, @ Mat Smith, not sure if you were being sarcastic, but a 6-year might not be a bad idea… Consider that somewhere, someone is still paying Kwame Brown.

  • john Posted: Aug.29 at 10:08 pm
    andrew bynum my dawg, i love this cat.. cant wait to see him back on the court this season matching up against greg oden on the first game.

  • andrew Posted: Aug.29 at 10:16 pm
    So, John, is he a dog or a cat? You’ve confused me.

  • Gerard Himself Posted: Aug.30 at 12:18 pm
    good one. Anyway, can’t wait to see Mountain Drew play again. I still wonder if Lamar Odom will fit in with this team, but I think he could be great playing small forward. He doesn’t have to score, he could average a career-high in assists if he wants to. And that’s the thing with Lamar Odom’s whole career: if he wants to, this guy can do anything. Same with a guy like Rasheed Wallace. Good player, but able to do so much more if he wanted to.

  • BETCATS Posted: Aug.30 at 1:59 pm
    so basically this is the lakers lineup C- Bynum
    PF- Gasol (his natural postion)
    SF- Odom (his natural postion)
    SG- Mamba
    PG- either Fisher or Farmar or Yue that is going to be a dangerous team. And dont judge Lamar or Pau for playing like pu$$ies in the Finals, they were playing out of postion and were overwhelmed.

  • Ron Posted: Aug.30 at 2:08 pm
    here’s the deal. get him a six years 50 mils contract straight the way !
    and you will have a quicker and stronger andrew !! trust me !

  • ugly_fish Posted: Aug.30 at 2:48 pm
    “Ship his ass out.”

  • USA Posted: Aug.31 at 5:35 pm
    Andrew Bynum = OVERRATED, prove it otherwise he aint showed me nothing yet!

  • Hursty Posted: Sep.1 at 7:41 am
    Is this USA 4 LIFE?

  • iLL wiLL Posted: Sep.1 at 4:56 pm
    Lamar at the point!

  • Phil B Posted: Sep.1 at 5:05 pm
    I’m excited for opening night – Battle of the Busted Knees!!!!
    I’ll take Oden over Bynum.

  • B. Long Posted: Sep.1 at 8:55 pm
    Best news I’ve heard all weekend.

  • Dacre Posted: Sep.1 at 11:50 pm
    I’d take a healthy ShAQ and a vastly improved Amare over a clean shaven Pao and a healthy bynum.

  • B. Long Posted: Sep.2 at 6:31 pm
    @Dacre:Are you really Steve Kerr?

  • Verballistic Posted: Sep.3 at 6:07 am
    A healthy Andrew Bynum could turn out to be the missing ingredient we need to go all they way to the first Laker NBA ring since 2002…man that seems like a long time coming!! Then again…it was longer than that between the end of Showtime & the Kobe/Shaq era three-peat!!

  • Rod Posted: Sep.24 at 1:02 am
    Make sure that apart from his knee being surgically repaired successfully, hope he also worked on his game, as he is still thousands of miles away still from being on the same breath as Dwight, Amare or Al Jeff…

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