Mitch Kupchak Expects Nash and Gasol To Participate In Training Camp

Steve Nash and Pau GasolWith the Los Angeles Lakers not having the smoothest offseason, many have wondered how this team will look next season. With Kobe Bryant recovering from Achilles surgery, Dwight Howard leaving town for Houston, and the health of Steve Nash and Pau Gasol up in the air, there isn’t much to feel great about in Lakerland.

With so much uncertainty, some feel it might be in the Lakers best interest to mail it in during the 2013-2014 season and get into the lottery, which is expected to be a deep draft next summer.

—–Check out the Lakers Nation store to get your LN gear and show off your Lakers pride!——

Not so fast, however. In a new interview with the Los Angeles Time’ Mike Bresnahan, Mitch Kupchak expects both Nash and Gasol to be at training camp and ready to go when camp opens up in two months.

“I expect both those guys to participate in training camp. Kobe is obviously the wild card right now,” Kupchak said.”I spoke to Pau about two weeks ago for 45 minutes. He said he feels a lot better than he did a month ago. He was optimistic that he’d be ready for training camp.

With both Gasol and Nash being ready to go, it gives the Lakers the assurance that two of their three best players will be ready for the season’s start. That could quiet any remaining “tanking” rumors surrounding the Lakers. Gasol, who turned 33 earlier this month, was plagued with injuries all of last season, forcing him to miss 33 games.

Nash, 39, dealt with the most frustrating season of his career as the two-time MVP sat out 32 games himself. However, Kupchak talked about Nash and his progress this offseason, saying:

We saw Nash out here last week. If I had to guess, he feels he’s in the 90th-percentile of where he wants to be. We still have two more months.”

Nash, who could barely move in the playoffs after dealing lingering injury issues, might be handling the ball a lot more next season than he did last season. With Bryant’s status still up in the air, Nash will be as important as ever for the Lakers.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Lakers hire Kurt Rambis and Johnny Davis to the coaching staff. Be sure to subscribe to our Lakers Nation YouTube channel by clicking here!

You May Also Like

Lakers News: Emmanuel Mudiay Plans To Have Second Workout With L.A.

UPDATE (June 18, 2015): According to Bill Oram of the Orange County…

Lakers News: Kobe Bryant Won’t Play Tuesday Against Wizards

In the past two weeks, Kobe Bryant has made significant progress and…

Kobe Bryant Offers Guidance To Lakers Brass: ‘I’m Always A Phone Call Away’

Following the meeting between Los Angeles Lakers president Jeanie Buss and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson earlier this week, the speculation has run rampant about potential changes on the horizon for the storied franchise…

Phil Jackson Tweets Massive Typo, Twitter Hilarity Ensues

Phil Jackson joined Twitter on Wednesday morning. After accumulating over 12,000 followers…