This is my first post, so here goes. This is an ESPN Insider article concerning the ramifications to the Miami Heat concerning the possible acquisition of Lamar Odom, with the possible scenario to the Rockets in bold. Who says that miracles never happen these days? Just ask Lamar Odom. After two injury plagued seasons, drug suspensions and a four-year stint on the worst team in basketball, Odom hit the jackpot on Monday when he signed a six-year, $65 million offer sheet with the Heat. Lamar Odom Small Forward Los Angeles Clippers Profile 2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 49 14.6 6.7 3.6 .439 .777 Incredible? That's not the half of it. In an effort to front load the contract with bonuses to make it less palatable to the Clippers (who now have 15 days to match) Odom will receive a whopping $15 million this year -- $12 million of it payable on Oct. 15. For those of you at home with calculators, Odom will be making more money this year than Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Jermaine O'Neal and his teammate, Elton Brand. Not bad for a guy who averaged 14.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg and 3.6 apg on 27-55 team last season. Like most too-good-to-be-true stories, there is a dark twist that could turn this fairy tale into horror flick. The word out of L.A. late Monday night was that the Clippers are seriously considering matching the offer. That scenario would be Odom and the Heat's worst nightmare. For Odom, it would throw him back into a system and culture that historically has bred little but failure and disappointment. Odom has the talent to be a top-10 player in the NBA. There isn't a player in the NBA who is more versatile at his size. However, his off-the-court problems combined with a lack of discipline on the court has turned him into a player who, four years into his career, still has to rest on potential and upside. Odom knows that if he's ever going to break the cycle of mediocrity in his career, he needs a task master like Pat Riley pushing and prodding him to become the player he knows he can be. In Miami, Odom may ultimately turn out to be a bargain at $11 million a year. In L.A., there's a very real chance that he'll be the guy who convinces owner Donald Sterling to never write another big check for the rest of his life. For the Heat, throwing this much money at Odom is, frankly, an act of desperation. They already lost out on Brand, Jermaine O'Neal and everyone else this summer. Riley is determined to end the rebuilding process in Miami and start winning. He believes that Odom's basketball skills are cut from the same cloth as Magic Johnson. He's hungered for a big point guard to run his team since his days in L.A. Odom and LeBron James are the only young big guys who appear capable of pulling it off. The gamble, however, doesn't come without a price. Not only could the Heat walk away from this 15 days later with nothing, they could also walk away from this move capped out again, with no real size in the frontcourt and no money to make a move. Assuming for a second that the Clippers don't match, four of Riley's best five players are really guards or swingmen. Odom, Caron Butler, Eddie Jones and Dwyane Wade would give the Heat a versatile, dynamic backcourt. But currently, Riley's only decent frontcourt player is Brian Grant. There isn't much the Heat can do on that front via free agency. With just $3.5 million left in cap space after Odom, the best they can do is to sign a guy like Predrag Drobnjak, Tyrone Hill or re-sign Vladimir Stepania. The key will be next summer. If the Heat can get Odom in the fold, they must find a way to trade Jones this year. This is MUCH easier said than done. Eddie Jones Shooting Guard Miami Heat Profile 2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 47 18.5 4.8 3.7 .423 .822 The four years, $56 million left on his contract is just one of the problems the Heat face in moving him. Jones played in just 47 games for the Heat last year because of injury. At 31, Jones' defensive skills also appear to be on the decline. The good news is that in the 47 games he did play, Jones averaged 18.5 ppg, pulled down 4.8 rpg and shot 41 percent from 3. Those are all around career bests for him. The key is finding a team that needs him and is willing to send back at least one or two contracts that expire at the end of the season. The most talked about rumor has Jones going to the Grizzlies. The team is shopping Wesley Person and Brevin Knight (both in the last year of their deals) and the numbers do work -- however the trade no longer makes much sense. The Grizzlies just signed James Posey to play the two and have been trying to package Person and Knight for a big man. Jones doesn't qualify. The Blazers are another possibility. They've shown interest in Jones in the past, and could package Ruben Patterson (who they are desperate to dump) and Arvyadas Sabonis' expiring contract. That would give the Heat an extra $7.7 million under the cap to play with next season. However, Blazers GM John Nash is under marching orders not to take back big salaries in return. Jones' deal should be enough to scare them away. The Pacers have been looking for some backcourt help and an Austin Croshere-and-Danny Ferry-for-Jones swap works. However, the Pacers are also very cash conscious at the moment and such a move would likely thrust them into luxury-tax territory after they re-sign Reggie Miller. The Pistons are also looking to move a few players. A swap of Hubert Davis, Michael Curry (both Curry and Davis are in the last year of their contracts) and either Cliff Robinson or Corliss Williamson would work. However, Pistons president Joe Dumars has been careful to avoid paying big salaries and Jones' deal would be a hindrance down the road. The Jazz could get into the fray and offer to swap Greg Ostertag for Jones. That trade would give the Heat two benefits. One, Ostertag makes around $4 million less than Jones. Since the Jazz are around $16 million under the cap, they can make the trade and absorb the difference. That would give the Heat close to $7 million to play with this year, and roughly $12 million to work with in 2004 when Ostertag comes off the books. If they don't spend any money this summer, they'll have $18-19 million in cap space next summer. That could be enough to convince Kevin Garnett to take a long look. The other benefit is that Ostertag gives them a legit center in the East. For Utah, the deal gives them a solid backcourt player and still preserves around $17 million in cap room for next summer. Glen Rice Small Forward Houston Rockets Profile 2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 62 9.0 2.5 1.0 .429 .759 The deal that makes the most sense may be a Heat-Rockets swap. The Rockets could send Glen Rice and Bostjan Nachbar to Miami in exchange for Jones. Rice is in the last year of his contract, which means the Heat would clear roughly $9.6 million in cap space for next season. In Houston, new coach Jeff Van Gundy has been on the prowl for bigger, more defensive-minded shooting guard to pair in the backcourt with Steve Francis. He'd prefer to bring Cuttino Mobley off the bench to give them a scoring boost. The issue will be the long-term ramifications of Jones' deal. In 2004, he would catapult the Rockets past the luxury-tax threshold unless other moves were made.Bold Weigh in on this scenario, please.
Dang, I feel bad closing a first post thread by a guy that seems nice enough.... but... Look on the bright side. Down the road you can always say "I remember my first post on the bbs - it was locked!"
