Scott says he expects to return

From combined dispatches

NBA coach of the year Byron Scott, who has the right to buy out the remainder of his contract and go to the highest bidder next season, showed little interest in leaving the New Orleans Hornets yesterday.

“I expect to be here,” Scott said. “In my mind right now I hope to be here unless something crazy happens.”

The Hornets pay Scott about $3.5 million a year, and the team’s majority owner, George Shinn, said he intends to make a fair extension offer that would make Scott one of the highest paid coaches in the league.

“Byron has done an outstanding job for us,” Shinn said. “I’m tired of flip-flopping and firing coaches. I want somebody to stay that I like. … I’m not going to be stupid. I’ll be as fair as I can to get him to stay with us.”

When Scott took over as coach following the 2003-04 season, he was the Hornets’ third coach in three seasons.

In his first season, he oversaw the dismantling of an aging roster, which resulted in an 18-64 record. The Hornets drafted point guard Chris Paul the following summer and improved their win total by 20 the following season despite being displaced to Oklahoma City by Hurricane Katrina.

Still playing in Oklahoma City in 2006-07, the Hornets narrowly missed the playoffs before returning to New Orleans full-time this season and winning the rugged Southwest Division with a franchise-record 56 victories.

The Hornets beat Dallas in the opening round of the playoffs before losing Monday night to San Antonio in the seventh game of their Western Conference semifinal series.

LAKERS: Center Andrew Bynum underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in New York, and Los Angeles officials said they expect him to make a full recovery by the start of training camp next fall.

The 30-minute procedure, performed by Dr. David Altchek, consisted of removing cartilage debris and smoothing rough spots on the underside of Bynum’s left kneecap, the team said.

Bynum had the operation on the same day the Lakers opened the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center.

Bynum hasn’t played since suffering a bone bruise in his knee and a subluxation of the kneecap - a brief dislocation that popped back into place - in the third quarter of a 100-99 victory over Memphis on Jan. 13. He was having a breakout season, averaging 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots in 35 games.