Josh Powell can only hope that he has found a home.
But if he can solve the intricacies of the triangle offense, Powell could settle into a key role off the Lakers’ bench in the 2008-2009 season. It will be the much-traveled Powell’s fifth NBA team in only four seasons.
“It’s a different system from what he’s been used to playing,” Lakers assistant general manager Ronnie Lester said Friday afternoon. “And it’s going to take him some time to learn it. But once he becomes comfortable in the system, I think that he’ll be a valuable player for us off the bench.”
The Lakers are banking on the 25-year old Powell replacing energetic and fan favorite Ronny Turiaf, who as a restricted free agent, signed a four-year, $17 million offer sheet last month with the Golden State Warriors.
“He’s comparable to Ronny in a lot of areas,” Lester said. “When we decided not to (match Golden State’s offer sheet), we were looking for a young guy to replace Ronny.”
The Clippers waived Powell on July 30 and his agent, Matt Brown, contacted the Lakers, who set up a workout date.
Because of renovations being done at the Lakers’ El Segundo practice facility, Powell’s workout was held at the Hangar Athletic Xchange (HAX) in Hawthorne, where the CEO is former UC Irvine basketball star Jeff Herdman.
“We brought him in, worked him out and liked what we saw,” Lester said.
Playing in a career-high 64 games last season with the Clippers, Powell averaged 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He played substantially over the latter part of the season, due to a rash of injuries to the Clippers’ front line.
The 6-foot-9 Powell stepped in as the Clippers’ primary starting center when Chris Kaman missed 17 of the final 21 games due to an ankle injury.
“(Powell) has the ability to rebound and shoot the basketball,” Lester said. “And if you can shoot the ball, you can play in our system.”
