With Ron Artest and Shannon Brown under contract, the Lakers still have a morning full of questions …
– Is Lamar Odom a key to Lakers’ repeat championship hopes with his unique talents, or is the 6-10 ballhandling forward merely a replaceable cog in a well-oiled machine?
I lean strongly toward the former.
–If the reported $3 million, first-year salary standoff continues, can the Lakers replace Odom with a player using the bi-annual exception of $1.99 million? signed to a minimum contract?
Extremely doubtful, although there are useful players who could fill the roster spot.
–Will the Portland Trail Blazers, rejected by Hedo Turkoglu and the Knicks’ David Lee, turn $9 million worth of their attention toward Odom? That’s what they can pay in first-year salary, closer to what Odom is asking from the Lakers.
Right now, the Portland interest seems lukewarm. Of all things, the fact Odom was a Clippers teammate of Darius Miles might be part of the Blazers consideration, or lack thereof.
–Where will Odom go, if he can’t come to grips with a 50 percent pay cut from the Lakers, and Portland doesn’t bite?
Well, there is cap room in Oklahoma City, but since the Thunder is a year or two away from even being a playoff team, it doesn’t seem like much of a fit for either 
party — although Odom, in my opinion, would be a nice veteran presence with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and James Harden. A true leadership role might be good for Odom (it’s not as risky as Artest, in my opinion)
– Who blinks first? As Janis Carr pointed out this morning, the Lakers are drawing the salary-cap line with Odom. They’re going to pay dollar-for-dollar for whatever he gets.
Odom likely doesn’t even have the option of a one-year contract, because the 2010 market is going to be glutted with bigger names. I think many teams would take him at the mid-level exception but Odom, who will 30 in November, might be viewing this as his last chance for a very rich payday.
–So, having enjoyed Los Angeles and winning a championship, will Odom cave in, figuring $7 millon — while not $14 million or even $10 million — is better than relocating for likely even less? Childhood buddy Artest is around, which might make staying more attractive.
My concern here is, if the answer is yes, will there be a residual effect?
–The Cavaliers just re-signed Anderson Varejao to a six-year, $50 million deal — is he really worth more to Cleveland than Odom is to the Lakers?
No easy answer here. You tell me.
The Cavs overpaid, simply put. But they almost had to because everybody is scared to go to Cleveland out of fear that Lebron is going to be gone next summer. And if Verejao hadn’t re-signed, then they had a gaping hole at PF, especially after trading Ben Wallace away in the Shaq deal. As for Odom, that bi-annual exception was used on Shannon Brown, wasn’t it? At least that’s what I’ve read in other places. Odom will be back though…he just has to accept that he’s probably not going to get as much as he had hoped, and if the economy hadn’t gotten so jacked up recently, then he might have been able to do it. Me personally, I like Ron Artest’s quote “If you can’t live off $33 million, then you can’t live.”
Lakers used the BAE on Shannon Brown. They did not have Brown’s bird rights, so they needed to use the BAE.
Thanks for pointing that out, deezy and Johnny. I forgot that Shannon was signed as a FA by Charlotte, not acquired by them in trade, so that affected his Bird Rights.
So it’s Odom or bust for the 2009-10 roster?
Odom is coming back.
odom will be back, barring horrible mismanagement of negotiations on either side of the table.
- he wants to be here
- the lakers want him here
the difference between odom’s situation and ariza’s is that the lakers knew they had options (i.e. artest) when it came to ariza. when it comes to odom, there are no other serious alternatives, either for the lakers or for lamar.
this is just a matter of money. lamar knows the lakers would like to get away with paying him 7mil a year. he also knows he’ll have to take it if nothing better comes around. but, there is the outside chance that a team will make him an offer in the 8 to 10mil range. if so, i would expect the lakers to match. so, it’s a game of friendly chicken. i don’t think there is much in the way of drama here, unlike the ariza situation.
you can’t fault either side. the lakers want to pay odom as little as possible because they’re paying a dollar-for-dollar tax. but, they will pay up if the market demands. odom wants to get paid as much as possible. but, the only way he’ll make more than the 7mil the lakers are currently offering is if another team steps up and forces jerry buss’ hand.
the guy is a poker player, he knows the odds and his outs. i think he’s just letting this hand play out.
you can kiss odom good bye. it’s taken too long and the lakers are not giving an inch. if you used to make 14 mil last year, there’s no way you can can accept half of that and be happy when bynum is earning 12.5.
If i am Odoms agent, i sure ain’t worth our contract if i can’t get Odom another 2-3 mil in off the court endorsements!! Candy man can.
In LA/Hollywood between car dealerships, fast food commercials, tv show & movie cameos.Be creative!!
I’m going to say something that everyone has forgot to mentioned and believe me I really like LO versatility , but i have to say it:
~ As a regular starter he sucked and hard!!!
~ He has become a bench player and he is an excellent bench player, but not a $14 mill bench player
~ Ron is going to be a starter and he is taking 6~7 Mill a year, no way we should offer LO anywhere close to what he wants, just so that he show up to play when the team needs him to be play decent…
~ And lastly, if i remember correctly LO was supposed to be a leader in Miami/Clippers and wherever else he played before coming to LA, so no way he will go back and take that kind of responsibility again
Anyways…..LO we’ll see you next season for another big fat ring..And thanks for all of your hard work…
The Lakers payroll is now around $85 million - WITHOUT LO! Add all the luxury tax and the Lakers are paying almost $100 million to win another championship. But that will not happen if LO is gone - no way we repeat without him. Not signing LO because of a disagreement of $2 million per year would be a penny wise/pound foolish situation IMO. Lakers have committed so much money so far, what’s another couple of million. Sign LO to a $26 million/3 yr and be done with it. I know there isn’t much of a market for LO so the Lakers can take their chances and play hardball - but the guy during normal economic times is worth $9-$10 million. Why upset him - keep the guy a little happy and you’ll probably get better production out of him.
Marion’s deal with Dallas is 8 mm a year for 5 years. Milsap should be getting a Portland offer for 7.7 mm - 8 and change per year. The market is what it is and it looks like Lamar will need to settle for what some are hearing is a 3 year 24 to 25 mm offer from the Lakers.
He does not command the Hedo dollars. I love Lamar, but am never sure what he will do on any given night. His play in the finals was very good and expected, but his on and off play history, which includes Marijuana pushed Portland away.
Who would pay him more.
This should be done by the weekend. NBA guys need to feel what the rest of us have, a very painful economic reality. Man up Lamar
IF MONEY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WINNING WE DONT NEED HIM. GO LAKERS
If the market for Odom is $7 million a year, what could Odom be mad about? Your worth is determined by the market for your services.
Why should Odom take less than his market value, and why should the Lakers pay more than his market value?
Do you think the Lakers are offering him $7M out of spite? If not, why would Odom leave out of spite?
He should go to whatever team is willing to pay him the most.
Odom was really making 10 mil last year…the 14mil everyone keeps quoting was really his 10 Mil salary plus the allocated portion of his trade kicker that the lakers had to pay when they traded for him. They paid that trade kicker upfront but, for record keeping purposes the total value of the kicker was spread over the entire length of his contract.
He already said he would give a hometown discount… this contract is gonna extend till he is 35…. i am hoping he just stops playing hardball with the team that stuck by him and accept the 7 mil per
Lakers
Pinky, rumors indicate that the Laker offer to Lamar is already around 8 million a year, maybe 8.3. It does not appear that he will get a better offer from any team. If he does and it is slightly higher you are saying he should take it even If he ends up in an out of contention city. The extra money Lamar can make with the lakers via playoff and endorsements make up for any shortfall. Artest took less to play for a ring, I think that too counts for something unless money is the only thing someone cares about. Lamar has an ego and after he accepts the market reality I think he will agree with the Lakers. Gee wish i could get 8 mm a year in this economy?
I don’t mean just salary wise, Odom should go wherever the economics make the most sense, and that includes endorsements, costs of relocation, etc.
Lamar needs to understand that he was not worth what the Lakers were paying him the last 4-5 years. He under-produced in 50% of the games during his tenure with the Lakers. Did the Lakers ask to restructure his contract due to his lack of production? No.
The current offer the Lakers have for Lamar will be to provide a spark of the bench, and lead the bench mob. He’s not a starter anymore, that did’nt work out well. Just take the 8 mil and know your place!
I say Odom should deal with 8 million, but if it’s less, I can understand why he would hold out on this.
I understand the Lakers have offered him the MLE for the first year which is around $6 million. They are waiting to hear if he gets other offers or a counter offer from his agent.
At the moment, Odom’s market value is the MLE. Portland having lukewarm interest is a generous statement at best. They lose out on Hedo and who do they go after next? Odom? Nope. They go after restricted free agent Paul Millsap. There’s even a rumor of a three team trade that gets the Blazers their next choice after Millsap. Odom? Nope. Kirk Hinrich.
Oklahoma has zero interest in Odom. They haven’t even made a general inquiry about him. He’s too old for what they want.
So that leaves one team left with cap space - Memphis. They don’t know what the hell they’re doing so there’s no chance they’ll muck things up further by offering Odom a big contract.
What’s left after that? Midlevel exception. He could go to a contending team, take that for a year and build up his value, right? Maybe, but with the cap dropping by $8 million next season, the cap space teams just got a lot tighter with their cash in a year when there will be beaucoup big name free agents.
So at the end of the day, the Lakers are not offering Odom market value, they’re offering him above market value. He can take that or he can take much less and see what a 31 year old role player who does best as a 3rd option or lower can get on the open market next year.
The Laker organization is being penny wise and dollar foolish. Can we really depend on Bynum being consistent for the whole year? I doubt it. He is still in training. Therefore, who do the lakers have that can step up? No one except Lamar. They should make the deal for 8.5 to 9.0 per year for at least 3 years and be done with it. That would put everything to rest and we can all move on. There is a few other players on the Lakers that weren’t very productive during the season or in the playoffs. Guess Who?
the lakers should dump a couple players and keep Odom or reduce
Bynam pay or becouse he is nor worth what he is being paid
That’s the issue, if Odom is feeling disrespected from a team he loved, he just might take less, go play with a contender and we could be possibly screwed out of a championship.
Lakers better pay dude 8 million and move on, stop being cheap for one of your key players.
I agree with much of what has been said here, including Ronaldo. Bottom line is the Lakers got several million in draft trade buyouts, so structure a deal with bigger money in out years, with a combo of team and player options in out years. LO does have a history of frustration for many of us Laker fans, if we are honest with each other. BUT, he produced in this past year’s title run, under duress, so we like to think he will continue with that level of effort and heart. MK is paid to remember the whole year and past when he spends Jerry’s money………. I like LO, so I hope they come to some sort of interesting structured deal to keep his chemistry onboard - which is what blew this team apart after the 4-HOF-starters fiasco early in the decade. Losing Ariza’s chemistry is going to be hard to enough to survive, let alone losing LO, also, over what Jerry considers pocket change when he is playing poker!!
Let’s go get more title runs Jerry!!!
Odom’s excellent play covered up the fact that Bynum, despite his injury, seemed to shrink during the playoffs. Bynum seems more like a kid than a man at this point, and that better change soon if you’re a Lakers fan. It looks like Kupchack made a big mistake signing Bynum to that deal when he did.
Here’s your easy answer: Pay Lamar Odom the 10mil a year. He took a paycut and a role-cut last season, so you at least owe him for that. When the Lakers go deep into the playoffs again, you’ll easily make that money back. When they win the championship, you’ll make profit from merchandise alone.
The difference between 7 and 10 million for franchise that makes billions over the years is minimal, financially. But it’ll mean the difference between a ring and a failure this season. If we don’t win it all again, everything will be blamed on losing Ariza, taking Artest, and ignoring Odom, and Kobe will be one year older and LeBron one year better. Now’s the time. Open the wallet and take the opportunity.
Did I hear someone say there’s NO WAY the Lakers repeat w/o Odom? Really?
I’d love to have Odom and if it weren’t for the Artest signing I’d agree but we DO have Artest.
The Lakers never really had a 3 headed monster. It was Kobe/Shaq then Kobe/should have been Odom but he never filled that #2 the way we hoped, then it became Kobe/Gasol w/ a few out of this world games from LO giving the Lakers a some-timey #3. And we still won!
Now the Lakers will always have an all-star on the floor giving consistent production night to night between Kobe/Gasol/Artest. I loved Odom for stepping into Bynum’s role when he got injured and he undoubtedly deserved every penny of his 11-14 mil for those 2 seasons. But when Bynum is fully healthy he’s a dominant inside force for us and Odom often gets lost.
Before Bynum went down I’m sure many of you forgot Odom was on the roster that’s how nonexistent he was. Kudos for him finally earning his paycheck and playing the way many felt he’s been capable of playing but he isn’t deserving of earning more money than Ariza and Artest will make this year. I want Odom back because he would add to the depth of the Lakers, he’s familiar w/ the system and he’s a fan favorite personality wise but on the bright side if he were to leave it would open up the doors for another young player to improve w/ more playing time like Ariza did. It just may be time for both parties to move on and allow Josh Powell to step in and fill the gap.
In any case, whether he comes back or not, the championship is staying in LA!!!
Starting 5 of Kobe, Gasol, Lamar, Artest , and Bynum is sick if you think about it. Oh and by the way Lamar is coming back.. Peace Tone