are the Clippers going to trade Mo Williams for Lamar Odom?

Lamar Odom In Talks To Sign With LA Clippers, Says Report

by Christopher Rogers

Lamar and Khloe Kardashian may get their wish to stay in Los Angeles if the NBA star is drafted to the Clippers! Find out all the details of Lamar’s potential career move!

Khloe Kardashian may get to stay close to her family in Los Angeles as her husband Lamar Odom is reportedly in talks to sign with the LA Clippers!



“Lamar’s agent is in talks with the Clippers,” a source close to Lamar told Radar Online. “He and Khloe are thrilled that he’ll be returning to the team and that they will get to stay in LA and be close to their families.”

Being drafted to the Clippers would be familiar territory for Lamar, 32, who first played for the team from 1999 to 2003, before being drafted by the LA Lakers!

“Lamar wants to return to Los Angeles and the Clippers want him. They just need to work out finances and contractual issues,” the source adds.

Khloe, 27, is actively trying to start a family with her hubby and this move would be opportune for the reality stars! Khloe would be around the rest of her family as she raises her potential baby!

“Khloe wants to be near her own family when she and Lamar start their family and this new job for him will make that all happen so easily. She was happy to move to Dallas and would move anywhere for Lamar, but having him on a team in LA is a dream come true,” the source says.

http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2012/06/21/lamar-odom-clippers-khloe-kardashian-los-angeles/
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Mo Williams, Clippers try to 'find a solution'

By Ramona Shelburne

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Mo Williams has said he does not plan to opt out of the final year of his contract, which will pay him $8.5 million next season. However the situation isn't as simple as that.

Williams' agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPNLosAngeles.com Wednesday night that he and the Clippers are trying to "find a solution" to the situation. Namely, Williams is a former All-Star point guard who spent most of last season playing out of position at shooting guard and coming off the bench following the trade for Chris Paul and the acquisition of Chauncey Billups.

"Mo's a professional and I think he showed that last season," Bartelstein said. "He had a great year under difficult circumstances. That said, he's a starting point guard. He's an All-Star starting point guard. So we'll look at everything and see what makes sense."

Williams has until June 30 to make a decision on the final year of his contract. Bartelstein said both he and the Clippers are "kind of exploring everything" in the hopes of finding a solution that works for both sides before June 30.

The Clippers have approximately $59 million committed to players next season if Williams does not opt out of his $8.5 million contract for next season. If, as expected, the salary cap remains flat from this season's $58.4 million, that would put the team slightly above the salary cap.

The Clippers have formulated two scenarios for their offseason. One for if Williams opts out and they are below the salary cap, and one for if Williams does not opt out and they are slightly above the salary cap.

Randy Foye, Kenyon Martin, Reggie Evans, Billups, Bobby Simmons and Nick Young are all unrestricted free agents. They do not have a first-round pick, either. So any moves will have to be made via free agency or trade.

Just who is making those decisions after general manager Neil Olshey left to become Portland's GM earlier this month is still somewhat of an ad hoc affair with team president Andy Roeser handling much of the logistical and financial issues and head coach Vinny Del Negro and director of player personnel Gary Sacks handling draft preparation and scouting.

Roeser is heading up the search for a new general manager. Former Nuggets GM Kiki Vandeweghe, has emerged as a leading candidate, according to sources.

The Clippers are also considering whether to promote Sacks, 44, in an effort to keep continuity within the front office. Sacks is regarded as a bright up-and-comer in league circles. He was Olshey's top lieutenant on scouting and has solid relationships with many of the Clippers players and agents.

Two sources close to the process said it was unlikely the team would have a new GM in place before next Thursday's draft, but that it was more likely the situation would be resolved near the beginning of free agency.

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles...7/mo-williams-clippers-try-to-find-a-solution

 

A Mo Williams for Lamar Odom trade would work numbers wise...

 

Sources: Clippers eye Lamar Odom


Updated: June 27, 2012, 12:42 AM ET
By Marc Stein | ESPN.com
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The Los Angeles Clippers have engaged in trade discussions to bring Lamar Odom back to the L.A. team that drafted him, according to sources close to the situation.

Yet the deal, sources said, could hinge on the willingness of a third team to take on the contract of Clippers veteran guard Mo Williams, which would allow the Dallas Mavericks to send Odom to the Clippers with no significant money coming back to the Mavericks.





Odom

With a Friday deadline looming for the Mavericks to buy out the final year of Odom's contract for $2.4 million, Dallas officials have green-lighted Odom's agent, Jeff Schwartz, to try to find a new home for Odom this week via trade. The Mavericks and Schwartz also have discussed pushing the deadline back into July if an Odom trade can't be struck before Friday.

The Mavericks' interest in an Odom deal, though, is purely to gain financial flexibility, which likely necessitates a third team to take on Williams. If no trade can be struck, either this week or before an adjusted deadline, Dallas is expected to eventually buy Odom out and make him a free agent, with big-market teams such as Miami and New York also planning to pursue him in that scenario.

Although Williams is a former All-Star and still a valuable contributor at 29, Dallas has little need for him given its long-planned pursuits of marquee free agents Deron Williams and Steve Nash and its oft-stated desire to bring back championship-winning point guard Jason Kidd when free agency starts at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.






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The Mavericks are one of two finalists, along with the Brooklyn Nets, for Dallas-area native Deron Williams and have long planned to pursue the re-signing of Nash -- who left Dallas for Phoenix in the summer of 2004 -- in the event Deron Williams decides to stay with the Nets.

Mo Williams has maintained all season that he plans to exercise his $8.5 million player option for the 2012-13 season despite the fact the Clippers have Chris Paul and promising youngster Eric Bledsoe at point guard, and want to bring back veteran guard Chauncey Billups, even after the 35-year-old suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.

Yet it remains to be seen whether Mo Williams will hold to that stance. He has until June 30 to make that decision and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, recently told ESPNLosAngeles.com that he and the Clippers were "kind of exploring everything" to find the best solution.

"Mo's a professional and I think he showed that last season," Bartelstein said. "He had a great year under difficult circumstances. That said, he's a starting point guard. He's an All-Star starting point guard. So we'll look at everything and see what makes sense."

Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that one team to express interest in Williams is the Los Angeles Lakers, who still have a trade exception big enough to absorb Williams' contract that they created when they dealt Odom to Dallas.





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Odom, meanwhile, is eager to return to his adopted home of Los Angeles to resume his career after what amounts to a lost season after his trade from the Lakers to the Mavericks in December.

The move to Dallas followed Odom's inclusion in the Lakers' original three-team trade with New Orleans and Houston that would have landed him with the Hornets and placed Paul in the same Lakers backcourt as Kobe Bryant. But that trade was called off by NBA commissioner David Stern, who has insisted he took that step as the Hornets' lead decision-maker at the time because the Hornets were owned by the league. A few days later, Stern signed off on the Hornets' deal to send Paul to the Clippers.

Drafted by the Clippers in 1999 and a winner of two championship rings in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons with the Lakers, Odom never fit with the Mavericks and left the team by mutual consent before the playoffs began after a nightmarish three months.

Odom has been working out on his own ever since and will attempt to earn a spot on the team bound for the London Olympics next month when he reports to Team USA training camp in Las Vegas.

Yet it remains to be seen whether the Clippers are prepared to push the deal through. In addition to finding a third team, they'll have to be convinced that Odom is indeed poised for a return to his Lakers form and also bury any lingering dismay from Odom's departure from the Clippers in the summer of 2003, when, as a restricted free agent, he issued a series of public pleas to owner Donald Sterling to be set free to join the Miami Heat after Miami signed him to an offer sheet.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story...gaged-dallas-mavericks-trade-talks-lamar-odom

 

Mormon j*zz could help the Clippers faciltate a Lamar Odom trade:
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Jazz in on Lamar Odom deal?


Updated: June 28, 2012, By Marc Stein and Chad Ford

The Utah Jazz have emerged as the potential third team in the Los Angeles Clippers' ongoing trade discussions to acquire Lamar Odom from the Dallas Mavericks, according to sources close to the process.

Sources told ESPN.com that the Jazz are willing to take on Mo Williams in a three-team trade scenario that would send Odom to the Clippers and enable the Mavericks to shed Odom's salary without taking back any salary.



[+] Enlarge
Max Faulkner/Getty ImagesLamar Odom went from a fixture on the Lakers to an also-ran in Dallas.


The ball now is in Williams' court. The trade cannot be completed unless Williams agrees to invoke his $8.5 million player option for next season by Saturday's deadline, which means that the 29-year-old is essentially deciding if he wants to return to the Jazz  where he began his career in 2003-04 -- or test free agency this summer.

Williams' agent, Mark Bartelstein, told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard: "Mo and I are looking at a lot of different things right now. He'll make his decision in the next day or two."

The Jazz can absorb Williams' salary without sending a player to the Mavericks by using a trade exception created by last season's trade of Mehmet Okur to New Jersey.

The deadline for the trade to be completed, though, is realistically Friday, because that's the deadline in Odom's contract by which point Dallas must either pay $2.4 million to buy out Odom's $8.2 million salary for next season or have him on the books for 2012-13.

Earlier this month, with Odom's buyout deadline looming, Dallas officials green-lighted Odom's agent, Jeff Schwartz, to try to find a new home for Odom via trade. The Mavericks and Schwartz also have discussed pushing the deadline back into July if an Odom trade can't be struck by Friday.

The Mavericks' interest in an Odom deal is purely to gain financial flexibility, which necessitates a third team to take on Williams. One possibility discussed, sources said, was Dallas taking back former Mavericks point guard Devin Harris to complete a three-team deal with the Clippers and Jazz, but the Mavericks are trying to avoid absorbing any salary in the move.

If no trade can be struck, either this week or before an adjusted deadline, Dallas is expected to eventually buy Odom out and make him a free agent, with big-market teams such as Miami and New York also planning to pursue him in that scenario.

Although Williams is a former All-Star coming off a solid season with the Clippers in which he often played out of position at shooting guard, Dallas has little need for him given its long-planned pursuits of marquee free agents Deron Williams and Steve Nash and its oft-stated desire to bring back championship-winning point guard Jason Kidd when free agency starts at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

The Mavericks are one of two finalists, along with the Brooklyn Nets, for Dallas-area native Deron Williams and have long planned to pursue the re-signing of Nash -- who left Dallas for Phoenix in the summer of 2004 -- in the event Williams decides to stay with the Nets.

Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that another team to express interest in Mo Williams is the Los Angeles Lakers, who still have a trade exception big enough to absorb Williams' contract that they created when they dealt Odom to Dallas.

Odom, meanwhile, is eager to return to his adopted home of Los Angeles to resume his career after what amounts to a lost season after his trade from the Lakers to the Mavericks in December.

The move to Dallas followed Odom's inclusion in the Lakers' original three-team trade with New Orleans and Houston that would have landed him with the Hornets and placed Chris Paul in the same Lakers backcourt as Kobe Bryant. But that trade was called off by NBA commissioner David Stern, who has insisted he took that step as the Hornets' lead decision-maker at the time because the Hornets were owned by the league. A few days later, Stern signed off on the Hornets' deal to send Paul to the Clippers.

Drafted by the Clippers in 1999 and a winner of two championship rings in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons with the Lakers, Odom never fit with the Mavericks and left the team by mutual consent before the playoffs began after a nightmarish three months.

Odom has been working out on his own ever since and will attempt to earn a spot on the team bound for the London Olympics next month when he reports to Team USA training camp in Las Vegas.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8...azz-help-lamar-odom-los-angeles-clippers-deal