Lakers' brown will need months to recover

Lakers center Kwame Brown underwent reconstructive ankle surgery Tuesday and will need several months of recovery time. The Lakers said Brown was expected to make a full recovery. He will

start running in six to eight weeks and should “return to playing status in a minimum of four months,” the team said. The Lakers begin training camp Oct. 3. Lakers center Chris Mihm had

reconstructive ankle surgery last November and did not begin running for almost six months. Brown has one season and $9.1 million left on his contract. His surgery was not as extensive as

Mihm’s and he could still be part of a trade because teams often value expiring contracts in order to try to get under the salary cap. Off-season trades typically don’t begin to take shape

until the days leading up to the draft, which is June 28. The free-agent signing period starts July 1. Brown, 25, initially hurt the ankle when he landed on the foot of Philadelphia 76ers’

guard Andre Miller after blocking a shot in a Dec. 31 game. Brown missed 27 games before returning in March and then missed seven more games because of lingering ankle pain before coming

back for good with two games left in the regular season. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in the first round against Phoenix. Brown is the second Laker to undergo surgery this month.

Forward Lamar Odom had surgery two weeks ago to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and will require about a four-month recovery period. Brown’s surgery was performed in Indianapolis

by ankle specialist Dave Porter. * [email protected] MORE TO READ