We DO NOT need Lamar Odom. The dude is a druggie and has a history of half-assing his way thru 95% of the games he plays. A guy like that is a cancer on a young team. We need guys who are good citizens, who want to hustle and work hard. Let's not get carried away yet. I'm interested to see how things pan out next year with Mo Taylor coming back, with a healthy Walt Williams (hopefully most of the season), and an improved Eddie Griffin. I'm not suggesting NBA Finals, but I do think they will be a LOT more competitive. We do need at least one more scorer, and it would be nice to have a guy who was just a dead-eye spot up shooter (ala Matt Bullard). But, we should be mostly focused on building a better defense. The Rockets defense just plain sucks and is so inconsistent. I would rather see the Rockets pick up two role players - one DEFENSIVE stopper (a Mario Elie type guy), and one accurate spot-up shooter (a Matt Bullard type guy). That would be much better than one Lamar Odom, in my opinion.
I'm not going to argue with anyone but I have seen Odom play at least 75 to 100 times on TV and once in person and Odom plays with much heart in it. He plays very hard and though the clippers loose he still keeps hoping to win. Occasionally at the end of close games he does try and do too much that results in turnovers or bad passes or bad shots but he doesn't quit playing. And yes sometimes he gets emotional and get's technicals for argueing or for acts of stress and anger at the way the team is loosing and throws a ball across the court but I have never seen him take it out on anyone. And even though his team losses night in and night out he still finds the respect to shake hands and give hugs to the winners even with tears in his eyes(well once only). In interviews he always speaks of how he hopes to help his team, how he wants the clippers to be respected and how he loves them and wants to stay even though they loose, and you can see it in his demeanor that he means it. He wants to represent the Clippers and that is something not many players would say. As for his play he's more about helping the team than personal stats. He even said it in an interview that he would love to have Brand cause it would help take pressure of his scoring. And as fact his scoring has gone down and his assist jumped up one. He does not have that "I got to score 20 to be effective" metality. I honestly think he would be more happy getting 10 or so points a game with 7 rebounds and 7 assist and be more happy than scoring 20 and loosing. He's not selfish. You can just feel it that he makes his team more hyper or better. The team become much more exciting with him in the game. He does play defense and his career stats show that he has average more than 1 steal and 1 block a game. In my honest opinion he's the opposite of a cancer on the court. And I have heard of four reports of people talking to him off court and they have said it was friendly. As long as he doesn't hurt anyone I could care less what he does in his spear time.
Lets see what the ping pong balls say, and if the clips squirm when those renewal contracts get closer. They can't resign magette, miles, brand and odom all for big bucks. Looks like we can get kandi, and perhaps we should. I'd call Odom's agent, still, and let him work for us. If we can only get Miles or Magette to drop our way - well, hey, that's not so bad .
Elgin Baylor (did I get the name right?) hand-picked Lamar Odom and will advocate keeping him, but Donald Sterling is a numbskull cheapskate billionaire (well, he refused to pay Mo-T the max, I guess that was smart) who's facing the dilemma of maxing out Brand and giving similar, if somewhat less lucrative, deals to Odom and Kandiman. Brand will stay. Kandiman, while less than great, fills a need at center. Odom will not get paid as a Clipper and so some of us are looking for ways to get him, as we are thinking that Sterling would take low-priced first-year players in return (hello, Houston's 2002 draft selections) as opposed to losing him outright. Certainly Odom would jump at the chance to play with Cat, Mo, and Steve, but he's not allowed to say so until after the trade that would bring him here.
Just saw what pasox2 posted. Kandi and Mo didn't get along too well when teammates; would we trade for the bad chemistry? Although we could use a center, that's for sure.
Of the five people mentioned there is not one locker room trouble maker among them to date. Eddie, Mo and Cato have all been happy not being the first or second option in the past so I don't see a problem there. As far as I know there are no finger pointers on our team so once again I don't see a problem. Portland was made up of Rasheed, Pippen and Kemp among others and they are all confirmed head cases. If you look at Dallas and Sac those are probably the two most loaded teams in the leage as far as talent and they don't seem to have a problem with who gets to take the shots. Odom, so far during his career, has been a player that has been willing to get his points with in the normal confines of the offense with out demanding the ball so I just don't see how the Portland scenario applies here.
There's Lewis. I don't know why we're having this argument. Why would the Rockets trade Cat without getting a SG back? Dear Steve, We regret to inform you that your very close friend, and 20ppg scorer, Cuttino Mobley has been traded to the Clippers. In return, we received Lamar Odom to shore up our already overcrowded frontcourt. Also, we've decided to ignore your previous comments and move you to SG. So now, since the only thing gained by this is cap flexibility, and that will only last for a while, we ask you to re-sign with us. I mean, it's not always what you look like on paper. Just ask the Blazers. Cato Griffin Odom Mobley Francis I think it's safe to say Odom's shooting %'s will all go up due to the attention our backcourt receives. On the Clipps, they really don't have many HIGH scorers other than Brand. The Clippers deal works perfectly. They need depth, we need Odom. 2 draft picks (they can pick 2 big men bcoz Kandi's leaving), and then have a backup PF (KT), and a reliable backup PG (Mooch). In return? Lamar Odom, whom they seem to play better without and they'd actually benefit by trading him. We also receive promising youngster Dooling to backup Steve. They want playoffs, and I think Mooch/Mcinnis beats Mcinnis/Dooling. Who's their backup PF? C? This is a good deal. I'd like to see why anyone would disagree?
giddyup - I don't think Odom wants to leave because he gets along so well with his teamates and coaches but if he does I think that he would still be happy with a new team and play hard for them IMO. He doesn't seem like the type to get upset and not play. As for the clippers letting him go, I'm sure they have a price but it won't be for a bargin. Sane - The clippers backup PF is miles, though he's really skinny at 201lbs he does pretty well in limited time and at center it's Sean Rooks. As for thier back up PG it's Earl Boykins as Dooling is out for the season. They are looking for a big man though to backup PF and C but I don't think KT will fit the bill. Mo would but he just came from there and they pretty much don't like him. If we were to trade with them they would probably ask for Griffin and more.
