Lamar Odom resigns with the Lakers

I read somewhere yesterday or this morning that Odom and the Heat were making no progress toward a deal.

 

whats funny is that a lot of the posters over that the lakers forum are just trashing lamar like most fans would when a player leaves them. I know the guy is totally inconsistent but seriously he was the one X factor on the team and was the guy that put them over the top when compared to the other talented teams in the nba.

I can understand the hate towards Lamar right now because of the whole back and forth with the contract deal, but the guy is asking for more years on a team that he played and won a championship for for the past 3-4 years?

I would go as far to say that Lamar was the most important player on that Lakers team behind Kobe and Gasol. Add that in a contract year he was willing to come off the bench and hurt his overall own production to help his team win. I am sure he was probably told behind doors that he would be taken care of after the season ended with a nice contract, especially had they won the championship, I am going to guess that Buss is trying to go back on his word a bit. I feel that maybe Lamar was told something like 8 figures per year for 4-5 years and now that the FA market is really a buyer's market Buss is trying to get Lamar back for a lot cheaper. I cant blame Buss for doing that but if he had given his word that Lamar would be taken care of and goes and does this I can see how Lamar would feel "betrayed"


If the Lakers lose Lamar they have taken a step down from last year, dont get me wrong they are still really loaded and talented but they have NO bench whatsoever which was terribly exposed last season with the lone exception of Odom and a late season pickup in Brown.

Adding Artest, losing Ariza and Odom I would put them back down in the level of the other teams like the Spurs, Celtics, Magic, Cavs and maybe even the Blazers.


It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the upcoming days.

 

that Woj column was from maybe 2 hours ago or newer? Woj never reports anything unless there is serious smoke behind that fire so I am going to take his word on it for right now.

 

Ariza will light up Kobe and Lamar next season... woohoo!

 

I'm not sure. Just reporting whats out there. I dont see though what kind of holdup there could be with Miami besides maybe years? They only have a set amount of money they can offer him, I belive. In either case, I think years is the holdup.

 

Off Topic: What is that MAGIC NUMBER of age where people just feel a player is on the DOWNSIDE?

It seems to be 30

Rocket River

 

I would say nowadays 32.

 

I would say it depends on the player; and his style of game. See: S. Francis. See: Deke.