DENVER — Just to be clear, it was Andrew Bynum who told his agent to settle for less and get the deal done.

That doesn't happen every day in our sports world. Then again, Bynum is not nearly your average NBA adolescent.

Oh, he is still juvenile, to be sure — just in a way that doesn't make the owner paying him and the general manager signing him worry about something going bump in the night. That's why no one with the Lakers was the least bit shaken by him being caught on video "making it rain" dollar bills at his 21st birthday party in a Hollywood nightclub.

This computer-loving kid doesn't really go for that scene. Image is certainly not everything with him, which is why he will still wear white athletic socks with his dress shoes ... as he just did again Saturday.

"We know what kind of kid he is," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said.

On Saturday, Bynum did not follow up signing his $57 million contract extension Thursday with a performance worthy of superstar money. He had five fouls, four points and three turnovers and didn't even play half the game.

This must be noted, however: Bynum's defensive excellence despite the burden of five fouls early in the fourth quarter was a key element in the Lakers pulling out a 104-97 victory to reach a 3-0 start this season.

Before Kobe Bryant took over the game, nearly every Denver offensive thrust, especially those of Carmelo Anthony, was derailed because Bynum was intimidating at the rim.

Defense is primarily what the Lakers are asking of Bynum this season anyway. But the game still reflected the inconsistency the Lakers also expect from him for now. As Coach Phil Jackson pointed out, Bynum gets the monster paycheck starting nextseason.

"He's still working on a salary that's from his rookie contract," Jackson said. "Hopefully within a year, his game's going to accelerate to that (new-contract) point."

The Lakers did well in the negotiations with Bynum. They got his agent off that inflated asking price of Chris Paul money — the maximum permitted to any player by the collective-bargaining agreement.

But even more important were the years — not so much that there are only three of them with Bynum so recently having injured his knee, but the fourth year is the Lakers' option instead of Bynum's.

That's a huge victory for the Lakers, who don't envision Bynum even growing into his frame fully for another two or three years. If Bynum erupts in the next four years — as is completely expected — the Lakers will exercise that option and still not be paying him maximum money in 2012-13.

And in the short view, it's great for focusing on this season to have Bynum's contract issue resolved.

"All things being considered, I think it's a good deal for our club," Jackson said.

Said Bynum: "We went back and forth, back and forth. Finally, I told my agent, 'Look, I want to be a Laker. Let's get the deal done.' "

The open market of restricted free agency was all set up to dictate better terms for Bynum after he came through this season healthy. But he took what was offered now, acknowledging that in so doing he "sort of minimized the team's risk."

So why did Bynum give in? To use Kupchak's verbiage, he's "unique."

Most young people — and NBA players of any age — long for freedom. Yet this is how Bynum looks back on his deal getting done: "I just definitely wanted to get secure. That was the big thing for me."