He’s Back!! And the Lakers are Again NBA Finals Bound

In case you haven’t heard the news, yesterday Andrew Bynum was cleared by doctors to begin his conditioning. And it was just as Bynum had promised only a little bit ahead of schedule.

After his surgery to clean up fragments around his dislocated knee, Bynum said he would begin conditioning by mid-July. Well, he’s about ten days early.

David Lee, Bynum’s agent said. "The doctors told him the knee was doing better than expected."

That means Bynum is ready to return to his physical conditioning coach in Atlanta and begin a two-month long training period. After that, he will join the Lakers for the start of team training and the preseason in Hawaii.

It also means Phil Jackson will get a chance to see how well the Lakers big three – Bynum, Bryant and Gasol – mesh together. Actually for now it’s the big four if you add Lamar Odom to the mix at small forward. Of course, that could change with free agency in full swing and also all the sign-and-trade deals that are possible.

Certainly, no one in the Pacific Division or in the Western Conference is interested in making the Lakers any stronger than they are now that Bynum’s knee is no longer in doubt.

On the other hand, some of the Eastern Conference teams might be interested in what the Lakers have to offer. There are very few teams who would be favorable to taking on Luke Walton’s and Vladimir Radmanovic’s contracts. But several teams might be interested in Odom and also two of the Lakers restricted free agents, Sasha Vujacic and Rony Turiaf.

The other question that arises is Bynum’s contract. David Lee is holding out for the maximum. But the Lakers are in no hurry. They don’t have to do anything until the end of next season.

More than likely, they will take their time to evaluate Bynum’s progress and his suitability playing with Gasol. If they like what they see, they will no doubt offer Bynum a maximum contract at the end of this season.

This past season, Bynum played in 35 games and started 25. He averaged 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks before his injury. This nearly doubled his averages In 2006-07 when he played in all 82 games, starting 53. He averaged 7.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks. For his career he has shot 57% from the field and has It's also important to know for his career he is shooting better than 57% from the field and 65% from the foul line.