We heard this morning that the Warriors have Lamar Odom on their radar as a potential offseason addition, but Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com questions whether Odom would be a wise investment for Golden State. The Warriors need sure-things, Steinmetz argues, and they don't want to bring in a player that could be a locker-room distraction.
Noting that even trying to sign Odom to the mid-level exception might be ill-advised, Steinmetz all but rules out the possibility of giving up any assets to trade for the veteran. One GM tells Chris Mannix of SI.com that different teams may value the 32-year-old differently, since he's only tradeable to teams for whom he'd want to play (Twitter link). That makes his trade value limited, at best.
Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com is even more pessimistic about what Odom could bring the Mavericks in a trade. The most likely scenario, in MacMahon's opinion, is Dallas essentially paying a team to execute Odom's buyout. If the Mavs dealt Odom, cash, and a second-round pick to a team with enough cap room to absorb Odom's salary, they'd save $2.4MM in 2012/13 cap space and create a trade exception worth $8.2MM. The team acquiring Odom, meanwhile, would sacrifice a small amount of cap room, but could ultimately come out even as far as cash goes, and gain a second-rounder in the deal.
It wouldn't surprise me if a team was able to talk itself into rolling the dice on Odom, and traded for him before or during the June draft. His upside is tantalizing, and perhaps a year removed from this season's drama, he'll bounce back to his previous level of production. But the Lakers are the only team that can be reasonably confident in what they're getting in Odom, and they're the only NBA club that can't acquire him until next season.
It may not have the same amount of intrigue as the draft-lottery balls or Deron Williams' impending free agency, but Odom's fate will be an offseason subplot worth tracking. If he can recapture the form that earned him the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2010/11, Odom has the potential to be a huge bargain for his new team. If not, he could be a waste of $8MM+ for one more year.
BRING BACK ODOM !
Odom is coming back to LAL, he want to retire being a Laker
Lakers need Odom as bad as Odom needs the Lakers
I feel that Odom needs to talk to someone about his situation. I would love to see him back on the Lakers, but personally he may need to talk to someone along with his trade back to Lakers
I would personally welcome odom back to the lake show with open arms. He misses his boys, plus without thinking of his crap season with the dallas dirks, who wasn’t totally bummed when he got traded? Give me a break, I’d love to see odom comin off the bench in LA
and so would Odom, if he will accept a much lower contract !!!!!
My concern is………………will Lamar be emotionally healthy enough to benefit the Lakers? He was the one who demanded to be traded (the 2nd time). Does he now trust the Lakers? Can he be expected to “bounce back” to his previous sixth man status? Can the Lakers trust him? Can they be assured that he won’t have another “melt-down”? I know that he has been thru a lot and my heart goes out for him, but there are just too many questions in connection with his immediate future. I really think he needs counseling to help him deal with everything he has gone thru/is going thru. I wish him the best, I really do.
Bring Lamar home to L.A. where he belongs!
Odom has been thru a lot personally and professionally since leaving the Lakers, how can you be sure he’ll bounce back?
The Lakers should get odom back and let go metta world peace
You obviously didn’t see the game tonight, MWP was lights-out awesome.
bottom line is that odom didnt want any part of the mavs.now maybe people will understand why the mavs have no success in the free-agent market.no one wants to play with dirk.odom will return to form next year
LAKERS NEEDS TO GET BETTER ON THE BENCH… LAMAR ODOM COULD REALLY HELP… HE’S THE 2010-2010 SIX MAN OF THE YEAR…
i would like to see him back but he needs to man up …..u dont see kobe crying and playing like shit cuz hes raping bitches and getting devorces shit hes gangster
Odom belongs in L.A. in purple and gold that is!!!!!!!!!!!
Odom is a risky gamble,since he,s 32 years old.He could eventually help alot as a veteran to some teams like the BOBCATS,but I think that he wants to go back to the LAKERS.