LAKERS NOTEBOOK: BUTLER GETS DEAL, RUSH GETS AN OUT.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - The Lakers exercised their fourth-year contract option on Caron Butler, declined to do the same with Kareem Rush, and somehow both players walked off the practice court Sunday afternoon saying they were pleased.

Butler will get the chance to remain with the Lakers through the 2005-06 season and stay in a system that plays to his strengths. He also received the affirmation that his career is progressing as it should after suffering a knee injury last October.

Rush will get the chance to become an unrestricted free agent at season's end and the opportunity to escape Kobe Bryant's shadow. Rush has averaged just 14.3 minutes backing up Bryant in two seasons with the Lakers.

``I don't think it's a bad deal at all,'' Rush said. ``I think it's personally really good for me because I've been playing behind Kobe for the last three years and it just gives me a chance to get out early.''

Rush has struggled with a tendon injury in his right foot that sidelined him at the end of last season and for five exhibition games in October. He has said the injury is improving but will be a concern throughout this season.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said he hoped to get a ``30-day look'' to evaluate Rush during training camp. The injury kept that from happening, and the team waited until Sunday's deadline to make a final decision.

``We just didn't have the same level of confidence,'' Kupchak said, ``just based on the fact that he wasn't healthy in training camp and just didn't play as much the last two years as Caron.''

Said Rush: ``This thing has been going on for six, seven months, we can't find any solution to it. That can kind of scare some teams off.''

The Lakers' future at shooting guard also is set, with Bryant having signed a seven-year, $136.4 million contract in July. Rush said he would give the Lakers a chance to match whatever offers he receives but could be leaving Los Angeles after the season.

``I'll get the chance to go out there and explore my options,'' said Rush, who hit six of seven 3-pointers in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. ``Maybe I can go someplace else and play more minutes, a more significant role, instead of always playing behind Kobe.''

Butler, meanwhile, appears to have regained the form that made him one of the NBA's top rookies. He averaged 9.0 points and 5.1 rebounds during the exhibition season, displaying an effective outside jumper which he added to his game this summer.

Butler will make $2.4 million next season and could negotiate an extension with the Lakers next fall. He has found what he calls a ``great situation'' in coach Rudy Tomjanovich's system after coming over from Miami in the Shaquille O'Neal trade.

``I think this is a great confidence booster for me,'' Butler said. ``I'm going to make the fans in L.A. proud, I'm going to make my family proud and I'm going to make the front office look like geniuses by going out and leaving it out there on the court every night and just being Caron.''

--Book notes: Phil Jackson has done a lot of talking to promote his new book, ``The Last Season.'' He might have some apologizing to do, however, to Brian Cook and Cook's now-fiance.

Jackson included in his book a locker-room scene in which Cook's teammates were trying to persuade him not to get married. They asked Jackson to speak up in support and the coach asked Cook if he was ready to be monogamous. Cook answered yes.

Cook said Sunday that he was ``somewhat'' upset that his private life was included in the book and added that his fiance shared the feeling. After a little initial embarrassment, though, Cook said there were no hard feelings toward his former coach.

``My fiance was a little upset about that,'' Cook said. ``But when guys get around each other, it's guy talk. But other than that, I tried to tell her (Jackson) was just trying to prove his point that he cared about things other than basketball.''

Jackson's book debuted at No. 5 on the New York Times' hardcover nonfiction best-seller list.

--Odds and ends: Slava Medvedenko did not practice and said he didn't know if he could play in Tuesday's opener with his bruised heel. ... The Lakers finished the exhibition season ranked third in the NBA in both assists and turnovers, even with nine new players. ... The team has to set its 15-man roster by this afternoon.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com