Lakers' priority: Keep team together

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This week the Los Angeles Lakers will enter the free-agent market, shopping for players and looking to improve. The problem is that this year's free-agent class is not considered strong. The only All-Star-caliber talent available is Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison, both of the Washington Wizards, and they will be commanding the kind of money that the Lakers aren't expected to spend this summer. The Lakers, who reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2004, like their young team and aren't expected to make big changes. Their top priority is to re-sign two of their key backups, guard Sasha Vujacic and forward Ronny Turiaf, and the Lakers' course this summer largely "is going to depend on the progress we make with Sasha and Ronny," said General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who will begin negotiations Monday night, the opening of the free-agent period. Teams can start signing players July 9. Because both Vujacic and Turiaf are restricted free agents, the Lakers can retain them by matching any offers they get from other teams. Vujacic, 24 and coming off a career year in which he averaged 8.8 points and was eighth in the league in three-point shooting (43.7 percent), might get offers from $4 million to $5 million per year. He might be seeking as much as $5.8 million. Turiaf, who's 25 and also had career highs in points (6.6) and rebounds (3.9), could command $3.5 million to $4 million. "If we run into a roadblock and/or there is a prolonged period before they can make a decision, then you'll have to look in other directions," Kupchak said. "But right now, based on the free-agent market that's out there and our existing free agents, we think it's in our best interest to sign back our free agents. "It's not a great group of players to choose from when you're comparing them against Sasha or Ronny. There's a couple of guys that may become free agents that are top-tier players, but they are going to be $10 million and above, and we can never sign them. We don't have the exception or the room." The Lakers' payroll for next season is $75.1 million, with just 10 players under contract. If they re-sign Vujacic and Turiaf, the payroll will easily exceed $80 million. The Lakers are over the salary cap, which is projected to be $57.1 million next season, and the threshold at which the luxury tax takes effect, projected to be about $70 million. As a result, the Lakers have available to them only the midlevel exception (as much as $5.8 million), the biannual exception ($1.9 million) and the veteran's exception ($1.2 million) to sign players other than Vujacic and Turiaf. But Kupchak doesn't seem concerned. "We feel if we bring those two players back and we get Trevor (Ariza) and Andrew (Bynum) back, we'd be happy going into training camp with that group," Kupchak said. The Lakers' other order of business is evaluating two starters who are heading into the last year of their contracts, and deciding if they want to offer them extensions. Bynum, the young center, has shown the potential that would make him a candidate for a maximum five-year, $80 million extension. But he hasn't played since injuring his left knee in January. As a result, Bynum has said he would be willing to accept less money. Lamar Odom, who will make $14.1 million next season, also would like an extension.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)