http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~25388~2234309,00.html They don't have a replacement for Phil Jackson, at least not yet. They don't know what will happen with Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O'Neal in the coming days. They have only six players under contract at present for next season. But the Lakers do have 20-year- old Slovenian guard Sasha Vujacic ready to join them, whatever shape they will take. The Lakers selected Vujacic, a player known to general manager Mitch Kupchak for years, with the No. 27 pick in Thursday night's NBA Draft. Vujacic has played the past three seasons for Snaidero Udine in Italy, the club team he signed a contract with at age 16. And while the Lakers could keep Vujacic in Italy without losing his rights, Kupchak said he expects him to play next season. The Lakers later used their No.56 pick in the second round to take Providence senior Marcus Douthit, a 6-foot-11 forward who could replace Jamal Sampson, lost in the expansion draft. "I can't explain how happy I am and how proud I am to be chosen by a championship team,' said Vujacic, who watched the draft from the stands at Madison Square Garden in New York. "And I look forward to start to practice.' Never mind, of course, that the Lakers were eliminated in five games by the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals. Vujacic also was listed in the league's draft guide as saying his favorite team was the Sacramento Kings, a charge he strongly denied. "I was like, 'Wow, who said that,'' Vujacic said. "Now you can hear the truth, that my favorite team is L.A.' It was a largely uneventful draft for the Lakers on a day in which speculation swirled that they could trade O'Neal. The Dallas Mavericks did complete a trade with the Washington Wizards in which they acquired Wisconsin point guard Devin Harris, the No. 5 pick. And Dallas later traded for 7- foot-5 Russian center Pavel Podkolzine, the No. 21 pick of the Utah Jazz. But there was no further movement for the Mavericks, the team reportedly most interested in obtaining O'Neal. Following the first round, Kupchak said O'Neal was a topic of conversation throughout the day but would not divulge specifics. "His name has come up like a thousand times a day for the last week,' Kupchak said of O'Neal, who issued a trade demand last Friday. In an ESPN interview later, Kupchak reiterated his hope that O'Neal would remain a Laker. "I would hope that he'd be back next year,' Kupchak said. "That's the best thing for this organization.' Kupchak also said the Lakers were operating with the belief that Karl Malone will not return next season, hence the need to explore options such as Douthit, who ranked seventh in the nation in blocked shots (3.2 per game) as a senior. "At this point, I would think that we'd have to,' Kupchak said. "And I don't base that on any conversation I had with him. He's opted out, he's injured his knee twice and clearly he's at an age where normally you'd at least think about retirement.' Vujacic, meanwhile, will come to the Lakers as a known commodity, more so than many of the eight high school players taken in the first round. Kupchak said he considered selecting Vujacic last year before the 6-foot-7 guard withdrew from the draft. "This is a player we do know,' said Kupchak, who rated Vujacic the 17th or 18th best player available, "and we've watched play and get better over the last few years.' Kupchak said earlier in the week that drafting a guard was the likely route for the Lakers, with Bryant and Derek Fisher both opting out of their contracts. Vujacic can handle the ball, needs to get bigger, but someday could play lead guard. "Although we feel our backcourt is going to be as strong as ever,' Kupchak said, "it's nice to know that we have a guard that we think has a bright future in this game. He's very athletic. He has a flair to his game, he's an excellent shooter and he has great size.' Vujacic will return to Europe today and take a couple of days off before preparing to come to the United States. The leap from the Italian league to the NBA is large, but Vujacic said he has been steeling himself. "I was actually getting ready this year mentally for NBA,' Vujacic said. "And I was just hoping the team would be Lakers. What more can you hope for?' Only 10 days have passed since their last game and the Lakers already have undergone an entire offseason's worth of tumult. Kupchak said he turned his attention to the draft Thursday, before moving on to the coaching search, free agency and other matters. Rudy Tomjanovich, meanwhile, was home in Houston on Thursday, awaiting word from the Lakers on the next step. But for his part, Kupchak at least was able to cross one item off a lengthy agenda after completing the draft. "Tomorrow we'll wake up and finish all the draft stuff,' Kupchak said, "and I'm sure the phone will continue to ring.' -- ╔══╗ 请叫我Tim Duncan!╔══╗ ╔══╗ 咚~~~唰! ║╔╗║ ║╔╗║ο︵ 看我45度角打板!║╔︵║ ╚╩╩╝ 糟!包夹! ╚╩╩╝ ╚∕═╝ 早叫你别守了^^ ●ρ 될 ∠＼● ο ● ● 猪﹣● ● 猪 ● ξ＜猪＞ξ □∕＞ □ □ ∕﹤ □ ● ∕﹨ ● --

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