Matt Barnes, who is now traveling with the Lakers, hopes to return to the court next week.

Barnes underwent surgery Jan. 11 to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee.

He claims he's ready to play and that his return is in the hands of the team.

"Progress is very good and now it's really up to [coach] Phil [Jackson]. I've been practicing and rehabbing well," Barnes said. "I feel good but I don't want to cause any controversy. I want to be here for the long haul and when I'm back I want to make sure I stay back. When they're ready to have me back out there I'll be ready."

Jackson said he would like to see Barnes go through a couple more full-contact practices before he activates the eight-year veteran.

Kobe Bryant made a runner in the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon against the Thunder to surpass Elgin Hayes for seventh on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

Bryant went into the game with 27,303, and only needed 11 to surpass Hayes, who scored 27,313 points in his career. Next on the list is Moses Malone with 27,409 points.

So far this season, Bryant has surpassed John Havlicek, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson and Hakeem Olajuwon on the league's all-time scoring list.

AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke wants to see the NBA's 2013 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

This season's event was held in L.A. at the Staples Center last weekend.

"I think we're going to go right back after it," Leiweke said. "We'll work with the Lakers and the Clippers to see if either of them want to host it.

"Neither one of them have hosted an All-Star Game in a long time. If either of them want to do it, we'd certainly be partners with them and that would add a twist to the bid. But I think the league, the players, the team owners, everyone had such a great time, and for the city to have a $100 million economic impact like we did here, it would certainly be great to get them right back here."

Orlando is set to host the 2012 All-Star Game.

Phil Jackson is in agreement with Mark Cuban about the Hornets making a deadline week acquisition that added approximately $2 million to their books.

New Orleans, presently owned by the NBA, acquired Carl Landry in a deal for Marcus Thornton.

"I want to know who is making that trade and how they can take on that salary when everybody else in the league — I mean this is the owners — [has] to take on this extra salary," said Jackson, and he wasn't done. "Those are things that seem to be manipulations that I'm not quite comfortable with. Where's the consensus? If New Orleans happens to win the championship, does everybody get a trophy in the NBA?"

The Lakers didn't pull off a trade prior to Thursday's deadline, but they may still make an addition.

"Nothing of significance," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said when asked if they were close to anything. "You can always look at the bottom of your roster. There were a couple [minor] things that came across my desk that we considered seriously."

The Lakers will look into adding a veteran player who is waived over the next few days.

The list of candidates will grow, but Troy Murphy and Jason Kapono may be options.

When Leon Powe clears waivers, he is expected to receive interest from the Celtics, Lakers and Knicks.

Powe's preference is to return to the Celtics, who he helped win a title in 2008.

Matt Barnes has returned to practice with the Lakers after missing 20 games following surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee.

Barnes only participated in non-contact portions of the team's practice on Monday,  but he was encouraged simply to be on the court.

"Just to get out there, run, sweat," he said. "It felt good."

Barnes indicated he'll need three more full practices following Monday's before he can be deemed ready to play.

"It's important for me to come back and stay," the swingman said. "Not come back too early and have to take games off here and there. My goal is to come back strong."

Andrew Bynum is still feeling the effects of offseason arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

The surgery forced the Lakers to play without their starting center for the first 24 games of the season.

Over the past four years, Bynum has missed 121 of a possible 303 games.

"It's getting better, but I don't feel the same [as before the surgery]. It is what it is," he said.

He expects the condition of his knee to improve, and pre-surgery explosiveness to return, but understands the need to be patient.

"It will come back," Bynum said. "I just need time. I need work and time. That's it."

The Lakers enter the unofficial second half of the season riding a three-game losing streak, but Kobe Bryant believes the team is prepared to make a run for a third straight NBA title.

"I'm concerned but it's no different than last season or the season before that," Bryant said. "There's always concern, look at San Antonio, they have the same level of concern we do. Just like things are rolling, things can fall apart. Everybody is concerned at this point."

With 25 games left in the season the Lakers have the third best record in the West and the sixth best in the league.

"There's an excitement to building up to the postseason and getting better each game and we're ready to go," Bryant said. "It makes it a lot easier. [The regular season] is a marathon, when you see the finish line you tend to pick up your speed a little bit."