Kobe on Lamar... and Lamar on being a Laker for life!

[Dr Aki]

ben wallace was expected by the bulls to come in a provide a post-presence and DPOY defense, bulls made a heavy mistake and traded him to the cavs for larry hughes (who was the cavs' own mistake)

how many teams set out to make mistakes like that??

the latimes article where im referring to is from pre-season training time 6 months ago, of which its too much of a hassle trying to dig through

when everyone thought he earnt 14.1mil, a paycut of 20-25% to 10-11 mil was thought to be reasonable, now that thats been debunked and we actually found out he was earning 11.4mil instead, a paycut of 20-25% is in the 8-9mil region is now entirely reasonable

especially given the 6th man role we're going to be paying him to play, besides ginobli who will earn something like 10.3mil next season and maybe Jason Terry, how many 6th men of the bench will earn more than 8-9mil range?

even kirilenko's contract was an extension of his rookie deal like lamar's one, can you honestly say if kirilenko was a FA next summer, he would get 10-11 mil per?

[ALL HAIL]

I don't expect Odom to get a guaranteed 6 year contract at age 30, but he should be expected to match his $11M/season at least for 3-4 seasons with an option..

You're right if he keeps playing like yesterday.

[KobeFan]

ben wallace was expected by the bulls to come in a provide a post-presence and DPOY defense, bulls made a heavy mistake and traded him to the cavs for larry hughes (who was the cavs' own mistake)

how many teams set out to make mistakes like that??

the latimes article where im referring to is from pre-season training time 6 months ago, of which its too much of a hassle trying to dig through

when everyone thought he earnt 14.1mil, a paycut of 20-25% to 10-11 mil was thought to be reasonable, now that thats been debunked and we actually found out he was earning 11.4mil instead, a paycut of 20-25% is in the 8-9mil region is now entirely reasonable

especially given the 6th man role we're going to be paying him to play, besides ginobli who will earn something like 10.3mil next season and maybe Jason Terry, how many 6th men of the bench will earn more than 8-9mil range?

even kirilenko's contract was an extension of his rookie deal like lamar's one, can you honestly say if kirilenko was a FA next summer, he would get 10-11 mil per?

Can you tell me what a post presence is? Anybody occupying the post, technically, is a "post presence". I don't understand the argument here.

Also, Odom is a 6th man on a team that has the best front court in the league. He's a starter (and a very good one) virtually everywhere else. If anything, it will take the Lakers MORE money to keep him in LA, if their plans are to continue to have him come off the bench.

Odom is likely missing out on marketing opportunities that come with playing a bigger role on another team. All of this is negligible at this point, though, with Bynum on the bench for the next 2 months.

BTW: If you can't take the time to find a source to back up your claims, you probably shouldn't make them. I've never seen *anywhere* Odom saying he'd take less money to stay with the Lakers. It's been mere message board speculation, and somehow, people on this board--as fans--almost feel entitled to it.

If anybody should take less money it's Dr. Buss. L.A. fans have made him filthy rich. Let him pay the luxury taxes.

[ALL HAIL]

If anybody should take less money it's Dr. Buss. L.A. fans have made him filthy rich. Let him pay the luxury taxes.

I'm riiiiiiiiich b***h !!!

[Dr Aki]

the ben wallace argument was that his contract was a mistake, last time i checked, GM's don't go to work asking what kind of mistake to make next (unless you're isiah thomas)

you're out of your mind if you think buss is going to fork out over 100+mil in payroll to keep to keep you happy

this is a business, NBA team owners aren't in the business of losing money/profit for the love of the team and if its costing buss 20-22mil to keep lamar on, we might as well renounce him and sign rasheed wallace for the MLE and save ourselves 10mil per season in the process

and you want to pay more? only 2 teams have the capspace to offer lamar 10-11mil and theyre not going to do it just so lamar can eat away cap space for another year of mediocrity if hes not going to produce anything close to a ring or even a playoff appearance

lamar isnt a starter on half the teams in the league, there are an abundance of PFs that warrant more PT than lamar simply because their PF is better talent-wise or fit-wise or they're trying to develop a young stud instead. If lamar was that good, he'd be an allstar

a 6th Man is what he is, and a 6th Man's money is what he'll get paid, if you don't understand simple market supply and demand, maybe you shouldn't be talking about how much lamar is worth

what is lamar going to do? bolt to europe? ask for a S&T? this guy wants to stay a laker for life

[ALL HAIL]

He'll definitely take 8.5 (cuz he's rich but unselfish and wants to be a "winner") but my goal would be 7.5 with more years (maybe 5 years or so).

I'd rather do 37.5 mill at 7.5 over 5 years than 34 mill at 8.5 over 4 years.

I'd probably do six years at 7.5 mill per or even seven years at 7 mill per.

In other words give him the money but literally make him a Laker for life by adding years that make this his last contract. He's 29 I believe. Give him a contract that ends when he's 34, 35, or 36 and pay him at a bargain rate.

He'll bite.

[KobeFan]

You said Odom is a 6th man in a previous post, already, I presented evidence to the contrary. You never rebutted that comment head on, you simply restated your opinion. Restating your opinion doesn't make it anymore valid.

Odom is a starting PF or SF (depending on the respective team's system) on most of the teams in the league. The only reason he's a 6th man, currently, is because the Lakers have a historically fantastic front-court this season. Also, we don't have a clue what team's cap figures are going to look like in the off-season, way too many personnel decisions are yet to be made.

Odom is a younger, healthier, more productive, and generally better player than Rasheed Wallace. If the Lakers let Odom walk, and "just sign Rasheed" to the MLE, they'd be downgrading.

Whether the Lakers can (or cannot) afford Odom is irrelevant. At the end of the day Odom's production/age/experience will likely command a 3-5 year commitment at $10-$15M per.

[Dr Aki]

odom is a PF that can play SF, and there aren't many teams out there still considering playing odom at the SF position at all seeing as tho capable, hasnt touched the position in 18 months

there is no evidence that lamar he plays better or even as well at the 3 than at the 4 position, i can't see odom getting PT over TD, KG, amare, LMA, josh smith, dirk, david west, rashard lewis, bosh, boozer/kirilenko, jamison or elton brand and there would be no advantage to having lamar eat minutes away from LMA, thad young, beasley, or any other young PF other teams are trying to develop

you want evidence? how many teams can you honestly say would benefit from a PF that is unselfish to a fault?

his skills/experience/age may demand him 10-15mil per in an open market with all teams with unlimited caproom and spending power

but at the end of the day, if you can't get anyone to offer you that, you're obviously not worth that number. with the 2010 FA looming, no-one is going to try to sign lamar and take away cap leverage room they could use on lebron, wade or bosh

if no other team is offering 10-11mil per, why should lamar or his agent demand 10-11mil per?? why should the lakers offer any more than 8-9mil per???

go out and find me a team that will offer lamar BOTH 10-11mil per and a chance to perenielly compete for a ring

[KobeFan]

There are 30 teams in the league, Odom is a borderline top 10 PF. Odom doesn't work as a SF in Phil Jackson's system, but he's still versatile enough to play the position. He had his best season as a 3, in Miami's system.

A team's ability to "compete" or "not compete" isn't static. A good draft pick, or a single breakout player can catapult a team into contention--especially in the East.

Also, Lebron, Bosh, and Wade are going to go to the biggest markets. That leaves 90% of the rest of the teams looking for a quality Forward. Odom, at his age, with his track record, would be a fantastic acquisition. He'll have teams bidding on his services come Free Agency.

[Dr Aki]

i just gave you 15 PFs better for their teams than lamar and another three that are going to develop into better PFs than lamar will be

and come on, tell me, which teams will be bidding for lamar??

the grizzlies? or the thunder? or even the hawks... tell me which of these 3 teams will make an offer of 10-11 mil per for lamar??

or is there a team without capspace out there trying to sign lamar and try to force the lakers into a S&T?

so plz, elaborate on your "bidding teams"

if lamar's contract was ending in 2010, we might have something to talk about, but seeing as its ending this year, noone except aforementioned three teams have any room to sign lamar

there is no conceivable scenario where lamar would get his 10-11mil per unless he trades away championship runs

or do you think lamar is going to chuck a latrell sprewell on us?

[KobeFan]

Jamison (WAS)
Bosh (TOR)
West (NOR)
Nowitzki (DAL)
Stoudemire (PHO)
Gasol (LAL)
Lewis (ORL)
Smith (ATL)
Duncan (SA)

Are the only PFs in the league I'd put a head of Odom.

That still leaves 21 other teams possibly looking to upgrade their power forward position.

Any one of those 21 teams can make some moves in the off season to position themselves financially to make a competitive offer for Odom.

[Dr Aki]

boozer/kirilenko, LMA, KG??? you honestly think odom would be better for those teams than those guys??

i maintain there are only 4 teams capable (i forgot detroit, and even they would prefer amir johnson develop) of offering lamar the contract you want to give him

there about another 4 teams with capspace but not enough to sign lamar to 10-11mil per

the remaining teams are OVER THE BLOODY CAP!!

how many teams can you name are actively throwing 2010 out the window in the hopes of clearing capspace for 2009? to sign lamar odom of all players!

and then propose an attractive enough offer to lamar to make him bolt?

[KobeFan]

I'll give you the Celtics and the Jazz.

That leaves 19 teams who can be looking to upgrade their PF position, and can put themselves in a position to make a competitive offer.

[Dr Aki]

of course they "can"

but "will" they? how many teams are willing to take on salary just so another team can sign a FA?, theres only so much free capspace floating around in 2009

you maintain all 19 teams all are interested in lamar yet you can't even name one team who's remotely interested in adding him to their roster and if i was a GM, i wouldnt work so hard to clear capspace just to use it on lamar odom

is there an article in your argument somewhere? a link? something to substantiate "interest"? did an insider tell you so?

lamar odom to every other team would be a luxury just as he is a luxury to our team and he isnt worth 10-11mil per

[KobeFan]

Odom is a good player, good players make good money when eligible for Free Agency. I don't see what we're arguing.

Admittedly, I don't know every teams cap situation. You said there are 4 teams who would be able to acquire Odom. In the interest of progress I'll agree that only 4 teams have the flexibility. Still, that's all it takes for him to make his fair market value of $10-$15M per.

[Dr Aki]

so which one of detroit, atlanta, memphis or OKC do u think will offer odom the chance to compete for a ring?