Kupchak says Lakers are “pursuing big deals right now”

Mitch Kupchak is not a self promoter, not a guy who likes to see his name in the papers, not a guy who boasts (except about North Carolina hoops now and again). If he says something, he means it. Just like Jerry West, who he learned under (although West was more talkative than Kupchak).

So when Kupchak told Lakers reporters today that the team was still looking to make a big splash, know that he means it. Here are his quotes, via Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register.

“We are pursuing big deals right now,” Kupchak said.

But Kupchak said he didn’t know if anything could come to fruition and therefore “we expect to have them (Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum) all season, yes.”

The Lakers had a deal in principle to land Chris Paul until David Stern blew it up. They are in on the Dwight Howard sweepstakes, but that is a slow moving process. The Lakers reportedly do not want to send both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol to Orlando, but that may be the price.

Which is why having Lamar Odom around would have helped. That Lakers trade is confusing, sending Odom to the Dallas Mavericks for a trade exception ($8.9 million) and heavily-restricted first-round pick. However, Odom was troubled that he was almost traded for Paul and asked to be traded, Kupchak said.

Kupchak said the Lakers were more interested in the trade exception from Dallas than the risks and limitations of taking on other players, citing “flexibility going forward” now. He said the Lakers did not want to “wait two or three weeks” to see if Odom’s mood changed, saying Odom would’ve “sucked energy” from the team and “we might not have had a better opportunity” than Dallas’ trade exception and first-round pick.

Kupchak did not shy away from the Lakers looking for a big deal, however.

Asked specifically about hope of getting Paul still with him not having moved to the Clippers or anywhere else, Kupchak answered: “There’s several big deals out there that we’re still pursuing.” He also said they weren’t limited to “the two” that people are thinking about, meaning Paul and Dwight Howard.