Jackson said the athletic forward displayed the necessary level of energy in practice this week, but he is still working on getting back in sync with the rest of his Lakers teammates.

Jackson said that Bynum expects to make a full recovery and revealed that he should be 100% ready to play within three months.

With no hope of Andrew returning during this year’s playoffs, he said that he believes that the center is glad that he went through with the surgery so he can end any ambiguity regarding his return and begin his recovery process.

Here’s the press release:

Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee today in New York, it was announced today by the team.

The procedure, which took 30 minutes and was performed by Dr. David Altchek, consisted of removing some cartilage debris and smoothing some rough spots on the underside of the kneecap.

Bynum is expected to make a full recovery by the start of training camp.

“He played well today,” said Jackson. “I think there’s a good chance Trevor will be available and ready to play.”

Jackson declined to comment on whether or not Ariza would see playing time in Game 1 tomorrow.

Bynum suffered a subluxation of the patella and a bone bruise of his left knee when he landed awkwardly on Lamar Odom’s foot. The surgery will entail a cleanup of some rough spots and fraying on the underside of his kneecap.

The procedure will be performed in New York by Dr. David Altchek.

More information and a timetable are expected to be released Wednesday following the surgery.

Read the Full Press Release Here

Trevor was back on the practice court Thursday afternoon working with the teammates that have been without him for almost four months as he recovered from a fractured right foot.

“I definitely feel more comfortable because I had a lot of time off so I’ve had a lot of time to watch and a lot of time to do everything,” said Ariza as the team finished up practice and hopped a flight to Salt Lake for Friday’s Game 6.

“I can’t even describe how happy I am. I’ve been out for almost four months, this is big for me.”

There is no definitive timetable for the Forward’s return and Head Coach Phil Jackson is looking for incremental improvement before throwing Ariza back into the fire of playoff basketball.

“We’ll just go a day at a time with this,” said Jackson. “By his own admission, he thought it take him a week. I was kidding about it probably taking two or three weeks to get ready to play and he said maybe a week.”

Getting back in the groove after missing so much time won’t be an easy task. “My foot feels fine, I don’t feel any pain in my foot, but as far as my wind and conditioning, that’s going to be the tough part,” said Ariza.

When asked if he had told Jackson of his desire to play Friday Trevor answered, “He knows how I feel and if he decides to play me I’ll be ready.”

“He’s seems to be OK,” said Jackson after today’s practice. “I think his back stiffened up a little bit in the fourth quarter, but he’s alright today.”

After participating in his first practice today, Coach Jackson said, “He got out there today a little bit and tried to shake off three months of rust, maybe even more…three and a half months…and he’s got time to work at his game and this will give him a little edge about going forward.”

With Ariza potentially available should the Lakers advance in the Western Conference playoffs, Jackson said he isn’t sure yet when he’ll be able to use the athletic forward in live game play.

“We really can’t put a timeframe on it,” said Jackson. “I said a week or two and he said one week so we’ll just see what it’s going to be.”

With Vladimir Radmanovic and Luke Walton already playing at the small forward position, Jackson said Trevor’s minutes will likely be determined by how well the other two are playing at the time.

“Vladi’s not playing well the last two games and we need someone to come in and step into that position and we know that’s a position he plays,” Jackson said. “I’m not holding him out as an opportunity to step right in there for him, but we like Luke in the role he’s at in coming off the bench and giving us some input and finishing games for us. But, we’ll see if Vladi can’t right his game here.”

While the MVP guard did not participate in the team’s shooting drills today, he said that his back feels much better than it did even 24 hours ago, noting that if there were a game today, he would absolutely suit up.

According to Kobe, his injury affects his elevation, change of direction and just about every other aspect of his game.

“I think that the key is to try and know what you can and can’t do,” said Bryant. “I think the last game was kind of an indicator for me. So, if it is that bad—and I don’t think it will be that bad again—but if it is, I can kind of know what I can and can’t do.”

“Sleeping’s tough. You’ve got to sleep with something under your hips at all times,” said Kobe, who also revealed that other simple things such as driving a car have also been difficult for him.

No one of the coaching staff nor his teammates think that the injury will impede Bryant’s overall effort too much in Game 5.

“There’s a possibility he may not shoot the ball well, but that doesn’t really concern us that much because he’ll find a way to what’s necessary in the ballgame at some level,” said Coach Jackson. “As long as he can play, we’re satisfied, we’ll be OK.”

Derek Fisher, who has been with Bryant through many injuries, said that he has faith that Kobe will find ways to contribute, regardless of his physical condition.

“If there’s even a couple of hours between the end of the game and the next game, he’ll find a way in that two hour period to get himself in a position where he can help the team,” said Fisher. “That doesn’t mean he’s going to be Kobe Bryant in that situation in terms of having to score 40 or 50 points, but he’ll find a way to help the team.”

The prognosis: conflicting.

“There’s a fault line there, I’ll use that term, there’s a small line in that break. There’s been some suggestion that perhaps this is as good as it’s going to heal,” said Phil Jackson. “Perhaps he doesn’t have to be as cautious as was suggested before.”

Jackson went on to stress Ariza’s long term importance to the team.

“This is a territory of the anatomy that you don’t just go in and put a screw in and it heals itself. He’s had a break there once and we’re trying to be real cautious because he’s a young guy.”

Because of the differing opinions the team will likely seek a third opinion before deciding on a course of action.

Ariza originally injured the foot after coming down awkwardly on Derek Fisher’s foot in practice.