Lamar Odom Will Only Sign With Clippers

MONDAY, 9:30am: A source close to Odom tells Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) that the veteran forward is doing well and that there’s a “90% chance” he eventually signs with the Clippers. There’s no timetable yet, but no other teams are in the mix, according to Zwerling’s source.

This report sounds similar to Friday’s, though a Saturday update suggested that nothing is expected to happen quite yet.

SUNDAY, 2:06pm: This week, we got some encouraging news when it was reported that Lamar Odom is looking sharp in workouts and could conceivably return to the hardwood this season.  Both Los Angeles teams have interest in the forward, but it now appears that he’s only interested in a return to one of them.  Odom has said that the Clippers are the only team he would play for, NBA executives who are not authorized to speak on the matter tell Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

Odom met with coach Doc Rivers for nearly two hours on Friday and Clippers players were left with the impression that he was on the verge of signing a deal, but that apparently wasn’t the case.  The troubled forward has put in a month of encouraging workouts and while he had hoped for a second-half return, he could be ready to jump back in even sooner than that.  Unsurprisingly, execs say that if Odom signs with the Clippers, it’ll be for the prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum.

It’s been a rough year for Odom who was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence weeks before unnamed peers alleged that he was using hard drugs.  Odom has played 12 of his 14 seasons in Los Angeles between the Clippers and Lakers.