Bynum worth seeking out
By Marc J. Spears
Denver Post NBA Beat Reporter
Article Launched: 04/08/2007 01:00:00 AM MDT


For anyone seeking Lakers' autographs Monday at the Pepsi Center, there is one player besides Kobe Bryant you need to pursue. No, it's not Lamar Odom or coach Phil Jackson, although those are good ones. Get your marker ready for "superstar center in the making" Andrew Bynum.

It might not be today. It might not be next season. But give it two or three years and he will be a force in the NBA.

"Bynum is developing extremely well," Bryant said recently. "He's a very smart kid. I think the hardest thing for him is to get ahold of the timing of the game, the speed of the game. But once he gets that (down), he'll be fine."

Instead of going to Connecticut out of St. Joseph's High (N.J.) in 2005, the 7-footer joined the last group of high schoolers eligible to enter the draft. The knock on the then-300-plus pounder was he needed to get in better shape and he lacked aggressiveness. The McDonald's All-American was selected 10th overall in the 2005 draft when he was 17. And on Nov. 2, 2005, he became the youngest player to suit up for an NBA game when he played against Denver at 18 years, 6 days.

Bynum played in 46 games his rookie season and never went to the NBADL. Instead, the teenager was connected at the hip of all-time scoring champion and Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to learn post moves.

"Kareem has meant a lot to me," Bynum said. "He's someone I can go talk to and ask about anything out there on the court. He's somebody who is just a personal coach for me. We work on my post moves every day. I just try to get better and better."

The highlight of Bynum's rookie season was Jan. 16, 2006, after he was dunked on by former Laker Shaquille O'Neal. Instead of backing down, Bynum spun away from O'Neal on the baseline to dunk on the next play and nearly got into a fight with the Miami superstar after purposely bumping into him.

"I just got mad and I wanted to make a good play back on him," Bynum said.

There is talk Bynum has the potential to be the next O'Neal, but the 19-year-old needs to get mad daily for that to happen. He is an athletic and chiseled 285-pounder who looks like a young Shaq. He has a 33-inch vertical leap, a 7-foot-3 wingspan and soft hands.

He is a 1980s throwback center with post moves that would make Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin McHale proud. Say what you want about Yao Ming, Dwight Howard and Greg Oden, but physically Bynum could be the most dominant force in the NBA in three years.

"Everyone wants me to be more aggressive," Bynum said. "I'm probably too nice. It's probably just age and maturity. But you got to be a different person every time you step on the basketball court."

Three NBA scouts said if Bynum had gone to UConn he would have been the third pick in this year's draft behind Ohio State's Greg Oden and Texas' Kevin Durant, assuming they all came out together. That means NBA scouts love Bynum much more than heralded center prospects such as Georgetown's Roy Hibbert, Florida's Joakim Noah and Washington's Spencer Hawes.

"I always wonder what it would have been like to go to UConn," Bynum said.

Bynum is averaging 7.8 points on 55 percent shooting, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots in 22.5 minutes per game, along with 10 double-doubles. He has shown flashes of dominance but is far from consistent.

He had career highs of 16 rebounds and seven blocks Jan. 26 against Charlotte. His first career double-double Nov. 7 included a career-high 20 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks against Minnesota. And he had 19 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks Jan. 5 against Denver. But those games aren't the norm, and the Lakers have opted to start Kwame Brown.

The Lakers think so highly of Bynum they turned down a trade for New Jersey Nets all-star guard Jason Kidd this season. It will be interesting if Minnesota dangles superstar forward Kevin Garnett this summer to get Bynum. The Lakers and the rest of the basketball world think highly of Bynum. And if Bynum has a consistent nastiness to his game and lives up to his Shaq-sized potential, autograph-seekers will thank me for my recommendation.

"He can be a big-time all-star in this league," one longtime NBA scout said.

Let me guess...you want us to say...ummm...lemme think real hard...it's coming to me...BYNUM.

I agree with you Pharzeone. I think the stats don't tell any kind of story. There are many times where a player is being held back by his current role on the team only to bust out the moment the teams philosophy changes. All we can do is measure these players based on what we see. If we see them both everyday our opinion is valid. But if we are going by stats or newspaper reports and only watching Frye and not Bynum than any opinion is closer to a guess.

Yeah you know what's the big thing here for me - it's that you would never, ever hear Frye come out and say that he got mad at someone like Shaq for embarrassing him and then decide to take it right back at a guy like Bynum did. Laker fans should be proud of that from Bynum. He's growing. That's playing like a man, like you got a pair, you know... Frye, meanwhile, plays like he's just happy to be in the league. No fire in his belly at all it seems... Frye's gotta go this off-season.

Posted by Finestrg:

Yeah you know what's the big thing here for me - it's that you would never, ever hear Frye come out and say that he got mad at someone like Shaq for embarrassing him and then decide to take it right back at a guy like Bynum did. Laker fans should be proud of that from Bynum. He's growing. That's playing like a man, like you got a pair, you know... Frye, meanwhile, plays like he's just happy to be in the league. No fire in his belly at all it seems... Frye's gotta go this off-season.

I'm guessing you're referring to this....

Posted by Bonn1997:

Lee's the only Knick I'd have any reluctance over trading for Bynum. The question should really be, who's worth more Frye AND Curry or Bynum?

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 04-09-2007 6:29 PM]

Bynum is not in Curry league offensively and probably never will be. Bynum is the better defensive player right now. I take Bynum over Frye right now because Frye can't even make a consistent jumper to add value.

Bynum is not in Curry league offensively and probably never will be. Bynum is the better defensive player right now. I take Bynum over Frye right now because Frye can't even make a consistent jumper to add value.

I think Bynums defense is greatly overrated on this board. Bynum gets some blocked shots but he is foul prone. he doesn't move his feet yet. He is not a good defensive player. Better than Curry but that isn't saying much.

Right now Bynum is mostly potential. There is a reason why Kwame the bum starts in front of him. Bynum has been uneven this year and last year he barely got off the bench. If Bynum was here he would be getting the business worse than Frye and Isiah would be getting killed for picking him. Please don't tell me that people would be patient and let him develop, players are dismissed around here so quick it's incredible.

oohah

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Of the three players, Bynum's the only one who has a chance of being a good two-way player.

Curry could be a dominating player in the NBA for years while Bynum and Frye cannot.

Why can't Bynum?

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Of the three players, Bynum's the only one who has a chance of being a good two-way player.

Curry could be a dominating player in the NBA for years while Bynum and Frye cannot.

Why can't Bynum?

Bynum's 19; he truly is young. He's not a veteran like Curry. Curry's a scoring specialist, and a one-dimensional one at that. One dimensional players don't tend to win championships unless they have someone else carrying their team.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Of the three players, Bynum's the only one who has a chance of being a good two-way player.

Curry could be a dominating player in the NBA for years while Bynum and Frye cannot.

Why can't Bynum?

Bynum's 19; he truly is young. He's not a veteran like Curry. Curry's a scoring specialist, and a one-dimensional one at that. One dimensional players don't tend to win championships unless they have someone else carrying their team.

I am not a huge Curry fan but Bynum is not on the same potential level as Curry.