Lakers Sign Scott to 5-Year Contract Estimated to Be $1.2 Million a Year

Laker guard Byron Scott, coming off a season in which he set career bests in five categories, signed a 5-year contract worth an estimated $1.2 million annually, it was announced Monday.

Scott, 27, averaged 21.7 points and had 3 of the Lakers’ top 5 scoring games of the 1987-88 season. He became a free agent after the Lakers won their second straight National Basketball Assn. title, but made it clear to his agent, Bob Woolf , that he didn’t want to leave Los Angeles or the Lakers.

“It (playing for another team) was something I thought about,” said Scott, who attended Morningside High School in Inglewood. “But at the beginning of the contract negotiations with Bob Woolf and Jerry (West, the Laker general manager), I told Bob Woolf that my main objective was to stay in L.A.”

The Lakers also announced the signing of centers Mark McNamara and Scott Meents and forward Kennard Johnson, all free agents. McNamara and Johnson have NBA experience; Meents played in Italy the last 2 seasons.

That leaves guard Jeff Lamp, who played in 3 games during 1987-88 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, and reserve forward Tony Campbell as the only unsigned Lakers. Both are expected to join the team soon, Lamp within the next couple days, so the Lakers will have 16 players in training camp, which opens Friday at Honolulu.