RealGM

"What is Kobe supposed to say? 'Thank God, we got rid of Lamar'?" Buss says. "Of course he's going to be upset; everybody is going to be upset. Fans are upset and I'm right there with them. I'm a Lakers fan and I'm upset."

" Lamar felt deeply hurt he was being traded. I'd feel the same way. It was a bad day and we expected him to miss practice because it was a bad day. I'm sure Pau was upset too. But it was more than that with Lamar.

"He told us he didn't feel he was going to be a Laker anymore even if he played with us. He said the same thing in an interview after he went to Dallas. We had to do it; we lost him. I'm sorry the trade was leaked publicly before it was completed. It wasn't our fault, but we lost him mentally."

And got nothing in return?

"When people say that, I don't understand. We were still trying to make another trade, and if we had acquired two players for Lamar, we could not have traded them in a package for 60 days. That would have restricted us. A draft pick allowed us more flexibility to make a deal."

But aren't the Lakers weaker without Odom?

"It's a fair argument to say so," Buss says, "but I don't believe that. I think what we've done to open up the floor with the outside shooting that we've acquired — it will only make Bynum and Gasol that much more dominant."

OK, so at the very least it was a salary dump.

"If we wanted to dump salary we could have gone amnesty with Metta World Peace or Luke Walton. But we never considered it," Buss says. Call him names as some do, but he does answer questions directly.

"I still like Luke. Mike [Brown] likes Metta, and I love him. We need to keep our pieces together, and maybe later by using pieces in a trade we can figure out how to get under the luxury tax."

semi-sentient wrote:Pretty good interview. I've traditionally called him names but he sounds like he knows what he's doing, and he deserves a chance just like any other newcomer.

If they aren't considering any amnesties then it looks like they aren't concerned with their salary situation, which hopefully means we'll make good use of our TPE.

He's right about Odom as well. He checked out mentally and dealt with it in a very unprofessional manner. I still think we should have held on to him and offered a Bynum + Odom package for Howard, but oh well. What's done is done.

BosssPlaya wrote:im watching the mavs/heat game.. they made a comment about LO.

LO had a convo with Terry and the dialogue went something like this

LO: " When the Heat get here, their gonna be coming after yall"
JT: "Yall? You mean us"
LO: " Ma bad, im trippin, thats what I meant"

Seems like he still hasnt gotten over the fact that he's a Mav and is still Laker @ heart IMO.

kblo247 wrote:Who are we fooling? That is fair value. Pau and Andrew have never played well together on both ends for a prolonged period because they are both centers who needed Odom to compliment them. They never gained a two man game on either side the floor. Dwight is flat out better than the often injury prone big and guy coming off one of the worst playoff showings on bth sides the floor for a 20 million dollar player ever. It just is.

kblo247 wrote:Problems with what he said

- We don't have three all stars, we have two

If you are going to call Bynum a title he hasn't come close to earni in his career,mother you need to say we traded an all star away for nothing at all as Odom was flat out better than him the past couples, did more to win the ring, and produced more than Luc Longley like numbers when it mattered.

- Trading both Pau and Andrew for Dwight is silly

Who are we fooling? That is fair value. Pau and Andrew have never played well together on both ends for a prolonged period because they are both centers who needed Odom to compliment them. They never gained a two man game on either side the floor. Dwight is flat out better than the often injury prone big and guy coming off one of the worst playoff showings on bth sides the floor for a 20 million dollar player ever. It just is.

- Odom was gone mentally and had to be given away

Please, Odom has even stated he was pissed off because Jim would not tell him the same thing he told Pau. He would be a Laker, he might hear offers that improve the team, but he will be a Laker short of trading him for a certain type of players. Lamar has said that was what Jim told him he couldn't say. You got caught being unprofessional and bush league yet again as management like this whole summer, with Shaw, Lester, and many other people. Lamar heard he got dealt on the radio, you didn't even call him to talk out the situation, and he had to come to you and you couldn't even give a white lie like did Pau. You wanted him gone to give the pet project his chance to swim or sink is all. Either Byum steps up and proves he is worth an extension or ups his value to be flipped for Dwight, or he gets hurt like he always ahs back to high school and underachieves yet again, lowers his value, and LA looks like dumbasses when they have no one there to fill in for him without skipping a beat

Odom even said admittedly by the Mavs that you guys AE going to have them gunning for you, in reference to Dallas playing Miami. He didn't say we and had to be reminded that he wasn't a Laker anymore, and still says his heart will always have a place in LA and that having a Mavs jersey is weird

- Valuing picks

Please with that as well. You will sell those firsts to the highest bidder and get seconds so you don't have to have cap holds or give out guaranteed contracts.