Ankle surgery complicates Brown’s status

Lakers center Kwame Brown will undergo ankle surgery next week, a move that casts some doubt over his playing status for the start of next season as well as trade possibilities for the Lakers during the off-season.

Brown will have bone spurs removed from his left ankle and will undergo reconstructive surgery if doctors deem it necessary, said his agent, Mark Bartelstein. Ankle specialist Dave Porter will perform the surgery in Indianapolis.

“We’re not sure if it needs to get reconstructed or not,” Bartelstein said Friday. “They’re going to go in and test the strength of the ligaments and see if they need to repair them. He also has some bone spurs he needs to get cleaned out.”

If Brown needs reconstructive surgery, he would face several months of recovery time. The Lakers begin training camp the first week of October. If his ankle does not need to be reconstructed, Brown’s rehabilitation would be significantly shorter. “Until they get in there and see what needs to be done, there’s no timetable,” Bartelstein said.

Brown, who has one season and $9.1 million left on his contract, could have been a key part of trade talks for the Lakers this summer, but reconstructive surgery would obviously change that. The fact that Brown’s contract expires after next season is viewed as a plus by some teams that are trying to get under the salary cap.

Lakers officials declined to comment.

Forward Lamar Odom, who also could have been a key piece in trade talks, underwent shoulder surgery last week and will require about a four-month recovery period.

Brown, 25, initially hurt the ankle when he landed on the foot of Andre Miller after blocking the shot of the Philadelphia 76ers guard in a Dec. 31 game.

Brown missed 27 games before returning in March and then sat out seven more games over the next six weeks because of lingering ankle pain before coming back with two games left in the regular season. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in the first round of the playoffs against Phoenix.

“I think he’s anxious to get it right and get back to being 100% healthy,” Bartelstein said.

*

The Indiana Pacers have asked for permission to talk to Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis for their head coaching position, a league source said.

Rambis, an assistant with the Lakers for nine seasons, has already interviewed for the head coaching job with the Sacramento Kings and will be interviewing with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Rambis, 49, coached the Lakers during training camp last October while Phil Jackson recovered from hip surgery. Rambis has had other experience as a head coach, going 25-13 after taking over for Del Harris as the Lakers’ interim coach during the lockout-shortened 1999 season.

Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw has also interviewed for the Pacers’ job. Pacers assistant coaches Chuck Person and Johnny Davis have also interviewed for the position, as has Chicago Bulls assistant Jim Boylan.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com