Any chance we make a play for Odom?

[EastSideBucksFan]

It looks to me like things are getting worse in LA LA land between Lamar Odom and Phil Jackson.

Here are some new quotes I found interesting

Lakers' Lamar Odom doesn't get points for performance
Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

In his first exhibition game playing the point, Lamar Odom had more fouls -- five -- than points or assists Tuesday night.

Phil Jackson says that the veteran 'looks like he's either curling or doing some other kind of sport. He's not playing basketball.'

The Lamar Odom experiment trudges along, slowly and shakily.

The Lakers' most versatile player had more fouls (five) than points or assists as a primary ball-handler on offense and small forward on defense in Tuesday's exhibition game against Utah.

I'm sure Lamar isnt going to be happy seeing the coaching staff throw him under the bus in the media after the first preseason game.

Odom was in the starting lineup, a point of contention for him because Coach Phil Jackson suggested he might come off the bench, but his stats were insignificant other than the fouls.

In 20 minutes, Odom had three points, five rebounds and three assists.

Assistant coach Kurt Rambis said Odom's game was "fair to middling, maybe poor," and that Odom "didn't seem focused out there."


Jackson took it a step further.

"I just got through telling him that this is really basketball now," Jackson said Wednesday. "He looks like he's either curling or doing some other kind of sport. He's not playing basketball.

"The first shot he took was a three-pointer in the middle of the third quarter? That was pretty interesting."

Jackson was non-committal when asked whether Odom would continue handling the ball.

"We still have some time to go with this," he said. "We'll see how it goes."

Jax sure doesn't seem like he knows where this whole thing is going. The fact that the LA Times refers to this as an "experiment" leads me to speculate that they have already had internal discussions regarding his status with the team. He's grumbled in preseason. He's probably not going to be a starter this year (I think). He's going to be a free agent at the end of the year.

If they get to a point that they don't think it's worthwhile to hang onto him I would love to see Hammond make a play for him.

I haven't been able to figure out an exact trade to throw at them but it could include: Villanueva, Damon Jones, Adrian Griffin, Charlie Bell or perhaps Gadzuric if we decided to take back Radmonovic.

I don't ever throw trade proposals out there, but I think it would be great, even if he's here for one year to have Lamar Odom.

Between Redd/RJ/Odom/Bogut I think that instantly gives us playoff hopes.

And it might actually make me excited about this season.

[EastSideBucksFan]

I hate bumping my own thread, but I guess I am just extremely disconnected from the board.

I usually post 3-4 trade threads a year and I guess I am just baffled that people would rather talk about a 8 player 4 team trade that has 0% chance of ever happening than something that is somewhat feasible given the makeup and feelings of two teams.


Interesting

[RayRayJones]

I don't know what the big fuss is over Odom. To get him, we'd have to give up quite a bit on our already thin bench. Even Gadz is worthwhile on the bench now-a-days, just not his salary.

When you compare PER48s, Odom only gets 1 rebound a game (48 mins) more than CV. CV crushes Odom in PP48, by over 5 points per 48 mins. Odom gets .2 more BP48 than CV, sure, something that helps but nothing that's a wow-ing difference.

People rag on CV like no end, but he hasn't even been given the chance to start a full season like I'm sure he will this year. CV is going to have a 16/9 type year, maybe a bit more on either points or boards depending on how this team does.

When you look at who we have on this team. RJ, Redd, CV, and Bogut. Redd and RJ are capable of being 20ppg+ for an entire season, each have done that more than once. Bogut will be above 16ppg and we're projecting CV to be at 16ppg. There were only 61 NBA players last year who averaged 16ppg or more. Having 4 of those 61 on our team is nothing to be mad about. Odom isn't that huge of a defensive upgrade over CV (yes, CV sucks on defense, I know, but Odom hasn't and isn't the best either) to give up our bench for him, especially for just one year where we still won't go anywhere. Odom isn't CC Sabathia, where the Brewers gave up basically everything for that one chance. With Odom, we're not going far either way.

[LUKE23]

We'd have to give up probably a pretty solid package to land him, and we'd have zero chance of re-signing him. Don't think it's worth it for one-year of Odom.

[MajorDad]

I'd like the bucks to pursue odom, but i think money may be an issue. the lakers seldom give away good players for losers. Although butler for Kwame does come to mind . odom is not a guy who will be a point forward. I like odom, but he does have a lot of times where he just disapears from games. i' m not sure if that's because he's on a team with kobe and kobe just takes over, or if he just loses his focus.

Looking at the bucks, i'd rather have jefferson at Sf than odom. I would have traded simmons and yi for Odom. but i don't want to trade jefferson for odom. I'd rather have odom over CV at PF. however, because we do have a scorer in jefferson at Sf, i think i'd rather have a power forward who is known more for his rebounding and defensive skills. I'd love to have tyson chandler at pf.

[MajorDad]

using stats per minute is always a bad idea. there is a reason why players like gadz don't start and why haislip is no longer in the league despite their great per minute stats. you would realize why these guys don't start if you ever gave them the chance to play 40+ minutes. rafer had tremndous per minute stats when he was a buck, primarily because he was a ball hog and when he entered the game, he became a one man team.

I wouldn't mind trading Cv for odom, but I know the money doesn't match. it would appear to me that the lakers would be more interested in trading Odom for a point guard than another forward. I think the lakers might have been tempted to trade odom for Mo. and i would have accepted that deal in a heart beat.

[EastSideBucksFan]

Odom has plenty of faults and isn't a stopper defensively, but he's a helluva lot better than CV.

Passing, basketball IQ, intensity (yes I know he "disappears", but lots of players disappear in an offense that built around Kobe).


I don't know how much it would take to get him and I'm not saying we should give away the farm. I'm just saying it should be explored if available because it sounds like Odom is on a short leash in training camp and could become available quite soon because he is turning into a cancer on that team.

Odom would be unhappy to leave LA in a way, but he'd have a starting gig and chance to showcase himself on a talented roster.

Odom is hands down better than CV and if you don't believe that, well then theres no point in me trying to argue it I guess.

[raferfenix]

Odom at his best is a much better rebounder and post player than CV. However, he's had some injury problems that have made him play less aggressively and is getting up there in age, so it's hard to say who will be the better player before too long.

Plus, unless we deal Redd, I don't see how we get Odom as the Lakers would definitley not be interested in taking back Gadzuric's nasty deal for a few of our scrubs. I would really like to have him on the team, but considering the likellihood that he leaves after a year we have to be careful what we'd offer in such a deal.

[LUKE23]

We'd have him for one year. Giving up anything that can help us next season makes zero sense for a guy that will play one year for us, but also not make us a title contender.

[MajorDad]

I just put in bell, CV and GAdz for odom and the trade checker said ok.

I tried to include jones, but it said he couldn't be traded before 15 october.

i would think jones might be any interesting guy the lakers might like.

Does anybody think the lakers might trade odom for marbury?

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

There are a couple Odom trades that I would do, but I really doubt that LA would do them. One possibility:

Odom ($11.4 mil expiring)

for

Charlie Villanueva ($3.4 mil expiring)
Damon Jones ($4.4 mil expiring)
Tyron Lue ($2.3 mil expiring - Deal coudn't happen until Dec)


or a deal that could happen sooner: Villanueva/Jones/Bell, which gives the Lakers decent talent in return, and helps our cap. That would leave the two teams as:

Ridnour/Sessions
Redd/Myboute
Jefferson/Alexander
Odom/Allen
Bogut/Dutchmen

and

Fisher/Bell
Bryant/Bell
Vujacic/Walton
Gasol/Villanueva
Bynum/I don't know the Lakers roster that well

I wouldn't do that trade if I were the Lakers, but I guess this thread is based on the belief that they don't want Odom anymore.

[carmelbrownqueen]

It sounds like it would take a pretty large package just to get him. Check out this breakdown of Odom's salary which was posted on hoopsworld.com:

Lamar Odom's Salary Part II: I went to the expert to get a more complete breakdown on Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom's salary. Cap guru Larry Coon was happy to oblige:

Odom signed a contract in the summer of 2003 with the Miami HEAT at a base salary of $58.5 million. In the original deal was a signing bonus of $5,781,576. According to the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, signing bonuses are amortized over the life of the contract. In this case, Odom's signing bonus counts on the cap an extra $963,596 - each and every year of his deal.

(One technical note - bonuses are not amortized over option years - player, team or ETO. In Lamar's case this is immaterial).

Odom also benefited from a $7.425 million trade bonus when he was traded to the Lakers in 2004. That too is spread out over each year of his deal (except 2003/4 which was before the trade) - even though the money was paid up front. His trade bonus adds an additional $1.485 million to the cap each year.

To break it all down, Odom received $9 million base salary from Miami plus the entire $5,781,576 signing bonus for a total of $14,781,576 in his first and only year with the HEAT (2003/4). This manipulation from Miami was to discourage the Los Angeles Clippers from matching their offer sheet (Odom was a restricted free agent). The actual cap number for the HEAT that season was just $9,963,596.

In 2004/5, Odom earned a base salary of $8.1 million from the Lakers but received the additional $7.425 trade bonus in a lump sum - making a total of $15.525 million in his first year with the team. Lamar's cap number was significantly lower at $10,548,596 which included $963,596 and $1.485 for his two bonuses.

Those bonus numbers remain constant over the final four years of his deal, adding an additional $2,448,596 to his cap number - with the extra monies paid out in 2003 and 2004.

For the coming 2008/9 season, Odom's base salary is in fact $11.7 million - the amount the Lakers are actually on hook for. His cap number, with the two bonuses factored in, is $14,148,596.

Should Odom be traded at any point before the February deadline - his trade value would be $14.1 million instead of the $11.7 million base salary.

[EastSideBucksFan]

Thanks for the new info CBQ.


That makes it much more difficult to try and acquire him. Only if they take Bell and Gadz and that is unlikely they would be interested in those long term deals for an expiring contract.

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

In December we could do Villanueva/Lue/Jones/Bell I think - even with Odom capped in at 14 mil.

[drew881]

How about (works in trade checker)

Michael Redd + Damon Jones

for

Odom and Vujacic.

I think I have posted similar things in the past.

Ridnour, Sessions, Lue
Vujacic, Bell
Jefferson, Alexander,
Odom, CV, Allen
Bogut, Elson

This way we drop Redd, and if Odom works out, we should be able to resign him. Also, we probably let CV walk in the offseason, but still have him as a trading chip during the year if we want to use him. Vujacic will be a decent 3 point shooter for us, and not demand the ball too much (although when given the ball, will shoot).

This way, Jefferson and Bogut can be the feature players, with Odom and CV complementing them. We get rid of the chucker Redd...

[MajorDad]

I think i'd rather keep redd than trade him for odom. I'm not against making bogut and jefferson the feature players. However, i don't think bogut is up to the challenge of carrying the bucks on his back as the featured player. i don't think he ever will be able to be the featured player on any team he plays on. he wasn't even the featured player for the Australian Olympic team.

[paulpressey25]

Judging on what Hammond/Skiles seem to like in players, I can see no way that Odom comes to the Bucks. He's too much of a passive stoner type player. Always has been. And he'd pout in a cold weather city.

[Badgerlander]

While I like Odom and wouldn't mind seeing him play for the Bucks at PF in a contract year, I don't see the Lakers making that move. I'm really curious to see if they'll go after Vince Carter.

[europa]

Odom would be a ridiculously huge upgrade over Villanueva, but I don't think the Bucks have the pieces to make a run at him. I don't see it happening. Too bad because I've always believed that in terms of pure talent, there aren't many players in the league at any position who have more than Odom. The guy really has amazing basketball skills.

[Nebula1]

With Jefferson on the team, I think the need for Odom has diminished substantially.