Now the Tough Will Go Shopping

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nunba1jul01,1,2240718.column?coll=...headlin

Lakers — Payton and Malone say they want to come, so the first
question is, do the Lakers want a mammoth, if aging, power forward to
fill their traditional hole, or a guard who at 35 is still close to
being in his prime?

Laker officials worry about how well Malone will fit in as he pursues
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record and will have to hear him insist
he can be a third wheel before pursuing him.

In any case, this is a team that won three consecutive titles, punted
last season and still almost made it four, doing it all with two
superstars and 10 helpers. Now it gets a third major piece.

There is also a long list of cheap help, such as the Clippers' Eric
Piatkowski, a sharpshooter with the court sense to fit into the
triangle, who, friends say, would love to come for the $1.5-million
veterans' minimum.