Lakers Still Very Interested in Fox

Battling geography and a newly increased salary cap, the Lakers on Friday reaffirmed their desire to sign Rick Fox, saying they will wait for the free-agent forward as long as he returns the interest, even if he prefers to remain in the East.

In the Lakers’ favor, they will be a championship contender for years to come, an appeal that also allows Fox the opportunity to recoup through playoff shares some of the money lost by signing a smaller contract.

And there is the other obvious reason for optimism: Fox likes the organization. He has talked to Executive Vice President Jerry West or General Manager Mitch Kupchak every two or three days for the last several weeks.

“He’s an East Coast person,” Kupchak said. “That doesn’t weigh in our favor. But more importantly, he wants to win. I think that, obviously, does weigh in our favor. He has not said we are longshots. We’re right there in the middle of it.

“We have to hang our hat in his corner now. Whether it’s another 10 days, 12 days or 14 days, as long as we feel we’re in the hunt, we’re going to stay in there with him.”

A two-year, $2.15-million offer is on the table. The Lakers’ pursuit was helped greatly when the Boston Celtics, the only team with unlimited spending power, renounced Fox to sign Travis Knight. More help came when the Indiana Pacers, among those in the market for a small forward, traded instead for Chris Mullin.

Still, there are teams, some from the East, able to make more lucrative offers because of the Lakers’ salary-cap constraints. Additional aid for the others arrived late Friday night, when the cap was expected to climb for the second time this off-season, with another small future bump possible. Neither will affect the Lakers, who already are far over the cap.

If the Lakers lose out, Clifford Robinson, who has spent his eight-year career with the Portland Trail Blazers, is a possibility as a free agent. But the Lakers might decide to keep the money until next summer, replenishing the bench now with several players at the minimum. One prospect, second-round pick Paul Rogers, has signed with Real Madrid in Spain, as expected.