Lakers re-sign Medvedenko, sign Vujacic

[Smoke]

Lakers Take at Least One Step Forward
They re-sign Medvedenko for two years while still waiting to learn what their other free-agent power forward, Malone, intends to do.
 
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer

Slava Medvedenko signed a two-year contract Monday with the Lakers, bringing back into the fold at least one free-agent power forward while another continued to ponder his options.

A decent rebounder and frequent shooter from the outside, Medvedenko showed signs of overcoming a language barrier last season and averaged career highs of 8.3 points and five rebounds.

Medvedenko, who lives in Ukraine during the off-season, flew in Sunday from Kiev to sign the contract and to undergo a physical Monday, which he was expected to pass.

Medvedenko's agent said his client wanted to re-sign with the Lakers after he initially took a wait-and-watch approach.

"There was obviously a little concern on his part to see what direction the team would go," Marc Fleisher said. "He has a lot of respect for Rudy Tomjanovich. He was particularly pleased to hear they were going to have a running style for the team. That's an area he excels in and an area he's not been able to take advantage of.

"For a guy his size, he can get up and down the floor. That was lost because a lot of times the Lakers were running the triangle offense."

Medvedenko, 25, made $1.54 million last season, his fourth with the Lakers. His contributions slipped in the playoffs — he averaged only four points and 2.5 rebounds — but the Lakers liked his toughness and shooting ability, and wanted him back.

"We've seen him improve every year," General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. "Last year, we relied on him a lot with the injury to Karl [Malone] and of course when Horace Grant went down, even more so. We think he's turned the corner. Having said that, he does have to continue to work and he's shown us that he'll do that."

As for Malone, the Lakers are waiting to learn of his plans.

A free agent, he is weighing opportunities with several teams, the Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat among them. Retirement remains a lesser possibility for Malone, who is recovering from finger and knee surgeries.

Man i like this guy. He's still 25, but he's improving dramatically since his first year in Los Angeles. It's a great move, imo, to re-sign him. Now Lakers have Odom, Walton and Medvedenko as PF, and if Malone returns...

Plus they signed Vujacic. The dude played in Italy, i know him very well. He's 6-7 but he's a great ballhandler, he's 20, he'll be a good player in 2-3 years.

[7even]

wow.. pour out some champagne

[Smoke]

Obviously no, he's not a superstar. But the dude is 25 and he averaged 8.3 points & 5.0 rebs last year, playing just 20 mins a game. Put Slava in another team, as a starter, let him play 38-40 mins, and you have a very good C, in my opinion. He can score 15-20 points per game easly, and grab 10 rebs. He has (big) problems on defence, and that's the reason why he'll never be a great C, but as a role player he's just perfect. He can enter from the bench and shoot in front of Duncan, Garnett, Shaq, everybody. And if he misses one, he shoots again with no fear on the next ball touched. He's a very interesting player imo, i'm happy Lakers re-signed him. And about Vujacic, he's a brilliant player. If a player is good in the Italian Championship, then he can be a good player in the NBA too. Remember Ginobili? Give him 2-3 years to learn how to defend (he's 6-7 man! And he's a better ballhandler than Fisher and Payton, no doubt!), and he'll be a very important player for us.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Decent move.

[Smoke]

Please dont understimate Vujacic. Like i wrote, if a player is good in Italy, then he's prepared for the NBA.

Check here if you dont believe me:
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=56338.0

[Don Jacob]

the italian dude i like

medvedenko....uhh yeah lol

[-VZA-]

Slava Medvedenko!!  *shakes head*
That Italian dude should be tight especially considering Italy just manhandled the USA team.

[akaDRooPY]

Vlade Divac is my Hero "Oh what a country!"

[Meho]

sup antonio.im from slovenia and as im sure you know vujacic is also.he will probably get better then rasha nesterovič who plays for spurs.as you said he will need couple of years to get into the whole nba style.just hope that the coach will give him enough chances

[Smoke]

sup antonio.im from slovenia and as im sure you know vujacic is also.he will probably get better then rasha nesterovič who plays for spurs.as you said he will need couple of years to get into the whole nba style.just hope that the coach will give him enough chances

Well right now we have Atkins and Banks as PG, so he'll get some chances for sure. Plus he has played very well in the Summer League (i have NBA.tv, i've seen him). I'm positive about him.

[KING VerbalAssaulta]

wow.. pour out some champagne

lol i can imagine if the lakers hired a new public relations person someone here would post it and everyone would be saying what a great move it was