Kobe Bryant sat out practice on Sunday, the sixth day he has missed due to a strained and bruised right foot.

Bryant is expected to play in Tuesday's regular season opener, but Pau Gasol is unconvinced.

"I have my doubts," Gasol said. "... He hasn't been able to practice for six days. He's been off that foot for six days and it's no joke. I don't remember the last time that he took that many days off exercising.

"He might do stuff in the weight room and might do stuff without putting weight on the foot, but it's a little bit concerning."

Bryant underwent an MRI over the weekend.

"We'll see how he is tomorrow and what he cannot do or can do out on the floor and then kind of go from there," Mike Brown said. "He's definitely making progress."

Dwight Howard is advising fans of the Los Angeles Lakers to be patient as their new pieces come together and chemistry is formed.

"I know everybody wants it right now, right now," Howard said Sunday. "But we want to win in June, that's what counts."

The Lakers had an 0-8 record in the preseason.

The Lakers' expected starting five has played one preseason game together.

"We don't expect to win every game and be 82-0," Howard said. "But we do expect, say by midseason, that everybody will have the offense down pat and we'll be flowing."

The Los Angeles Lakers waived Andrew Goudelock on Saturday, trimming their roster down to 15 players.

Goudelock was the 46th overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft.

The Los Angeles Lakers finished the preseason with an 0-8 record, dropping a 94-82 decision to the Kings on Thursday.

“Sure I’d like to get better yesterday as opposed to tomorrow or the next day or the week from now,” said Mike Brown. “Having said that I know it’s going to take some time. Despite our record, I think we are a little ahead of schedule, especially with the injuries.”

The Lakers continue to turn the ball over too frequently, give up points in transition and also allow too many second chance opportunities.

“We just have to keep trying to find ourselves offensively,” Steve Nash said. “Defensively, we’re decent, but we need more control offensively. This is going to be a process. It’s going to take us a while.”

Dwight Howard admits that his preference was to be traded from the Orlando Magic to the Brooklyn Nets.

"I did want to go to Brooklyn. That's a place where I told the Magic that I really wanted to go," said Howard. "[But] I was traded to the Lakers, and I think it was a blessing in disguise.

" … I think there's a reason why everything happened the way it happened. So far it's been an unbelievable experience for me. … It's like a dream come true."

Howard is beginning his first season with the Lakers.

"The whole year a lot of people were making up a lot of stories about 'This deal is getting close, that deal is getting close to being done,' or whatever, but none of those deals were ever close," Howard said.

"I thought I was going to get traded at the beginning of the year, actually, that's when I asked for it. But everything happened for a reason. I had to go through last year to get to where I'm at today. It's made me a stronger and better person for it. I had to go through the hell and the stormy forecast to come out to a place like this … and I'm thankful for it."

Kobe Bryant will not play in the Los Angeles Lakers exhibition game on Wednesday against the Clippers due to a bruised and strained right foot.

The injury his third and most serious since training camp began.

Bryant was injured when he tripped over the foot of Thomas Robinson in Sunday's game.

"It's always frustrating to have these freak accidents," Bryant said. "It always upsets me."

Dwight Howard also isn't expected to play on Wednesday, but he will on Thursday against the Kings.

NBA general managers were asked which player they would sign if they were starting a franchise from scratch and 80% said LeBron James.

James and Kevin Durant each received 37% of the vote last season.

Durant was second with 16.7%, followed by Dwight Howard at 3.3%.

The Miami Heat are the favorite to win the 2013 NBA Finals, according to a survey of general managers.

The Heat received 70.0% of the vote, followed by the Lakers with 23.3% and the Thunder at 6.7%.

The Heat received 74.1% of the vote last season.

With 96.7% of the vote, Miami is even a stronger favorite to win the Eastern Conference.

The Lakers are expected to win the Western Conference by 60.0% of GMs, followed by the Thunder with 36.7% and the Nuggets at 3.3%.

The Celtics, Pacers, Heat, Spurs, Thunder and Lakers are considered the favorites to win their respective divisions.

Dwight Howard made his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, scoring 19 points with 12 rebounds and four blocks in 33 minutes.

"I'm so thankful to be back on the court after coming off a serious surgery," Howard said. "I'm going to make the best of it."

"He looked normal to me in terms of how he was running and his stamina," Kobe Bryant said of Howard. "He looked great."

Howard admitted feeling nervous and "shedding a few tears" before the Lakers introduced him to the starting lineup. 

"I was a little emotional because I haven't been on the court in a while," Howard said. "I just thank God that I came back as fast as I did. I didn't know what to expect. It was a very humbling experience."

Jim Buss has taken a larger role with the Los Angeles Lakers as his father, Jerry Buss, decreases his own involvement.

"It's a collective effort on every step," Jim Buss said. "Mitch (Kupchak) might have his own thoughts. He might make some phone calls to see if it's even possible. And he'll introduce it to me, and I'll say, 'Give me a day to work out some numbers and see if I think it's a fit.' Basically it's the value part I do.

"I'm not going to question if he likes a guy. Maybe I'd say, 'Mitch, by my numbers, the guy's a $3 million player. Right now, the market's dictating he's getting six. We just can't do it.' "

Buss said he more often defers to Kupchak's feel for team building.

"That's the area that is gray for me," Buss said. "Mitch is fantastic at saying, 'Well, he's a good player, but he doesn't fit our team.' Breaking down a player, you can do so much number-wise. But you need that extra 'does he fit?' "

Kupchak describes Buss as "a student of the game."

"We collaborate on everything," Kupchak said. "Like his dad, he has his opinions on players. Like his dad, he's good with numbers. And he's got his own way of looking at the game and how he evaluates players."

Buss continually updates and tweaks his numbers system, which separately has breakdowns off offense and defense.

Kupchak is direct when it comes to who is representing Lakers ownership in basketball decisions already.

"He has gradually taken the place of his dad," Kupchak said. "It's almost been a complete transition, really."

Six years ago, Jerry Buss sat in his living room and said: "Slowly I would like to turn it over to Jim to see how effective my strategy is while I'm still alive – and still have time to correct it if I didn't do it right."