mitch kupchak did a q & a with the lakers reporter, lots of info. most insightful though was his comments on drew.
Q: On what he makes of Andrew Bynum’s recent dominance, highlighted by his 12.6 points, 14.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks on 64.2 percent shooting in March.
Kupchak: We know that Phil had a conversation with him four or five weeks ago asking him to do the things that will help us win … but I’m not sure you can tell a player to play well tomorrow in a meeting and all of a sudden he goes from 10 points and eight rebounds to 12 points and 18 rebounds, just on a conversation. I’m not sure I can point to one episode of something that caused him to play better, but to me, clearly his conditioning has been key. Being able to run the floor, being able to sustain a second and third effort is noticeable. It’s that time of year that he’s just in great shape. He didn’t play all summer, didn’t play all fall, didn’t really start playing until December, and he only had three or four practices before we threw him into games. Finally, he’s in NBA condition. He was also coming off an injury, so it takes some time to get the confidence back, feeling good about the knee.
Q: On how he dealt with the trade rumors that circulated about Bynum prior the the trade deadline:
Kupchak: I’d say I get 10 to 15 phone calls a year about Andrew. I’ve called teams that have young, developing players myself. I don’t think that’s going to change. Certainly if he had played as well as he’s playing now for the last three years, teams would realize that, well, the Lakers would never trade him. But he’s had stretches where he’s played well and stretches where he hasn’t, and he’s been criticized, and I think general managers look at (those weaker stretches) and think maybe this is an opportunity for me to come in through the back door, let me make a phone call. And I understand that, and don’t think that’s going to change. But having said all that: when Andrew is healthy, and he plays like he is playing right now, you are hard pressed to look at anybody in this league and say, ‘I would trade him for that person.’
Q: On if he meant that last statement literally about not trading Bynum for anybody:
Kupchak: Anybody. If he’s healthy at this level he’s at, you’d have to think about anything. In other words, you may not trade him for anybody. If he helps your team and he’s what you need, and we can advance in the playoffs, then why would you take a chance and do anything? A lot of it is the right fit, the right personality for a team, and I think we have a group of players right now that are unselfish in the big picture, I really do. We know the players we had from last year are, because they’ve been through it, but the guys we added in Blake and Barnes feel that way too, and know what’s at stake here. We know there are going to be rumors about most of the guys on this team, but that’s just the way it is. If we play at a high level and we win, nobody has anything to worry about.
"We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, Harry, but battle on." - Dumbledore
