( 4UMF NEWS ) Antawn Jamison Signs With Lakers:
Antawn Jamison is joining up with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash to chase a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. Jamison will sign a one-year deal with the Lakers, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Lakers hadn’t announced the move.
The 36-year-old forward will sign for the veteran’s minimum salary, likely bolstering the Lakers’ woeful bench with scoring and veteran leadership while pursuing the first championship ring in a career largely spent as the best player on bad teams.
He won’t have that problem with the Lakers, who will have Bryant and newcomer Nash in their backcourt flanked by two elite 7-footers — although their identities will depend on whether Los Angeles’ apparent efforts to land Dwight Howard are successful. Jamison also will be reunited with coach Mike Brown, who was in charge of the Cavaliers when Jamison was traded to Cleveland during the 2009-10 season.
Jamison had several suitors for his services, including his hometown Charlotte Bobcats, the Brooklyn Nets and the Golden State Warriors, his employer for his first five NBA seasons. For a player who has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs in 14 NBA seasons, the Lakers’ chance to contend apparently was too enticing to Jamison.
The Lakers are the fifth NBA team for Jamison, who averaged 17.2 points and 6.3 rebounds for an awful Cavs team last season despite shooting a career-low 40.3 percent. He is averaging an impressive 19.5 points per game in his career, never scoring fewer than 14.8 points per game since his rookie season with Golden State in 1999.
Jamison could be a huge upgrade to the Lakers’ bench, which repeatedly struggled to hold leads last season when the starters sat down. Matt Barnes was the Lakers’ top-scoring reserve with just 7.8 points per game, and Los Angeles had the NBA’s lowest-scoring bench with just 20.5 points per game.
Jamison has been a reserve just once in his career, but he was good at it: During his only season with the Dallas Mavericks in 2003-04, he was selected the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year while playing alongside Nash.
