RealGM

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53069/20080619/odom_likely_candidate_to_be_traded/

Wiretap article suggests the Lakers want to move him to clear cap space. If true, he would be an excellent fit here. He fits the uptempo style, is a good offensive player and rebounder. I think trading him straight up for Green or Evans would work under the cap. If we can't acquire Brand or Marion, Odom would be a good fit.

It all depends on what we would have to give up. I would not give up Iguodala or some other core young player.

If the Lakers just want a pick and our cap space I'm all for it. Especially since he is an expiring contract that can clear extra cap space next summer, or be traded away at the deadline.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty certain that the asking price will be too high, unless it was part of a three way deal where we got Odom, the third team got cap relief, and the Lakers got back a good player.

I need to hear it from the mouth of Phil Jackson. If Phil says Odom is available I would believe it. I think if the media asks Phil the question, he would say, we have no plans to trade him.

From my vantage point, I would take him in a heartbeak. He fits the bill in Philadelphia. If they want Andre Miller, the Lakers can have Miller. I want more size and athleticism on the 76ers.

He lost with Kobe and Gasol why would we want him here? We don't even have one player as good as either one of them AND Derek Fisher is not too shabby either. The Lakers stunk when it was just Odom and Kobe. So an Odom and Iggy duo is suppose to be some sort of foundation for a team? No.
We are going backwards by acquiring Odom, he is a born basketball loser, much like Tim Thomas and Webber. If you have any of those three players your team will find a way to lose no matter who the other 4 players are. I will be disgusted if we acquire him. He lost with Kobe and Gasol.

SendEm wrote:He lost with Kobe and Gasol why would we want him here?

Because they made it to the finals before they lost and he is a very good player who fits our style of play

SendEm wrote:He lost with Kobe and Gasol why would we want him here? We don't even have one player as good as either one of them AND Derek Fisher is not too shabby either. The Lakers stunk when it was just Odom and Kobe. So an Odom and Iggy duo is suppose to be some sort of foundation for a team? No.

That is some screwed up logic. We shouldn't want Odom because he was two games away from winning a championship with great teammates? While we're at it, why don't we cancel out any player yet to win a ring. That's only 95% of the NBA...
Yeah, Odom is clearly a loser, he can't possibly help us out. We should settle for far less talented players who are proven winners, like Fabricio Oberto. Makes perfect sense...

ojr107 wrote:

SendEm wrote:He lost with Kobe and Gasol why would we want him here?

Because they made it to the finals before they lost and he is a very good player who fits our style of play

So by that reasoning should we want Haslem too? Did you know that he has a championship ring to show for his Finals appearance? They made it to the finals because of Kobe and Gasol. They could have made it with a host of other competent PF's. They will make it to the Finals again SEVERAL times without him.

sixerswillrule wrote:

SendEm wrote:He lost with Kobe and Gasol why would we want him here? We don't even have one player as good as either one of them AND Derek Fisher is not too shabby either. The Lakers stunk when it was just Odom and Kobe. So an Odom and Iggy duo is suppose to be some sort of foundation for a team? No.

That is some screwed up logic. We shouldn't want Odom because he was two games away from winning a championship with great teammates? While we're at it, why don't we cancel out any player yet to win a ring. That's only 95% of the NBA...
Yeah, Odom is clearly a loser, he can't possibly help us out. We should settle for far less talented players who are proven winners, like Fabricio Oberto. Makes perfect sense...

Actually the logic is pretty sound. I don't particularly want any 28+ year old player that competed on a team with 2 of the absolute best ALL NBA type players and lost WHILE performing forgettably. Now go find me a player that fits that description and make me eat my words.
Do I want Gasol? YES
Do I want Kobe? YES
Do I want Tayshaun? YES
Do I want Odom? NOOOOOOooooooooo

Odom has no place on the Sixers. He's too soft to play power forward and just adds to the logjam at small forward. He's also not a shooter, so I don't see what need he fills.

I think Odom could be a nice fit. I love his versatility and ability to play both up tempo and in the half court. He can also create match up problems being able to take people off the dribble, finish around the rim, and shoot from the perimeter. I doubt they'll let him go cheap, but if the asking price is within reason I'd be interested.

SendEm wrote:

ojr107 wrote:

SendEm wrote:He lost with Kobe and Gasol why would we want him here?

Because they made it to the finals before they lost and he is a very good player who fits our style of play

So by that reasoning should we want Haslem too? Did you know that he has a championship ring to show for his Finals appearance? They made it to the finals because of Kobe and Gasol. They could have made it with a host of other competent PF's. They will make it to the Finals again SEVERAL times without him.

Your logic is flawed. My comment of "Because they made it to the finals" was in response to your pointing out the fact that they lost. You were the one who injected the "they lost" as a reason for not wanting him here. That logic doesn't hold water, , you can point to a lot of great players who never won a championship who had two good teamates. By your logic, we don't want Lebron James here, because he has not won a title. Or, you wouldn't John Stockton in his prime, because he couldn't win a title with Hornacek/Malone.

Not to mention, I also statedf "And He is a very good player who fits our style".

Talent is talent, period. Odom would make this team better, much better, and that's a fact. But because his team "only" made it to the Finals and lost to a team that was even better, we should pass on him and go for a less talented player? A player that would not make us as good as Odom would? There is no logic there...

If the Sixer's can't find a long term answer at PF this summer (or if they draft one and have to wait for them to develop) then some sort of one year rental of a guy like Sheed or Odom would be great. We could take advantage of our cap space- and then still have it back next summer, or make a bigger move at the deadline.

As long as we don't have to give up too much, why not try to make some noise in the East while we still have Miller? Then in 1-2 years we can hopefully retool using cap space and our maturing young core.

ojr107 wrote:
Your logic is flawed. My comment of "Because they made it to the finals" was in response to your pointing out the fact that they lost. You were the one who injected the "they lost" as a reason for not wanting him here. That logic doesn't hold water, , you can point to a lot of great players who never won a championship who had two good teamates. By your logic, we don't want Lebron James here, because he has not won a title. Or, you wouldn't John Stockton in his prime, because he couldn't win a title with Hornacek/Malone.

Not to mention, I also statedf "And He is a very good player who fits our style".

Yes, by my logic I wouldn't look to acquire Hornacek either. And for this Sixers team that desperately has Willie Green starting at SG I wouldn't want an aging vet like Hornacek from that era on this young rebuilding team. Also how is it so difficult for some of you posters to figure out what players meant more to their team? Why is it so difficult to figure out who played well and who choked?

The Celtics turned up the physicality in that series and what did Lamar Odom do? He publicly complained that they were playing too rough.

So all of you fantasy basketball fans can love Odom all that you want, the Lakers will be just fine without him with Gasol playing the PF and Bynum at center. We shouldn't want their soft, non physical, garbage that couldn't help them win a championship with Kobe and Gasol. Odom is what he always will be, too soft to be a championship PF and too old to help the young talent lacking Sixers win one.We presumably would have to get a Kobe and Gasol sort talent JUST to get an Odom team to the finals. I don't see any Kobe or Gasols on the Sixers right now therefore Odom's huge salary would be potentially preventive in acquiring that sort of player where we might need to do so through free agency.

Oh yeah by you saying that "by my logic I wouldn't want Lebron James" proves that you were incapable of understanding the very simple explanation of my logic that I gave in this thread where I said that I'm not pursuing any 28+ year old player that LOST with 2 ALL NBA players. That means Hornacek NOT Lebron James who is what 23? and the BEST player on that team...

Odom isn't a powerforward. He's always made his living by playing against smaller players at the 3. He's strictly a face up to the basket kind of guy. He's a good all around player, but as mentioned, not a reliable jumpshooter, and a careeer third-fourth option at best.

I'm sure he could fit in somewhere, but why would we want to trade for him when we can possibly keep all of the players we have right now and add a powerforward without losing anything but cap space?

Lamar Odom cannot play the PF position, that much was proven in the NBA Finals. He is a 4 inch taller version of Andre Iguodala. If we're excited about Odom, then Thad can fill the position just fine and has loads of upside. Anytime LEON POWE can outplay you, your bad. (No Offense to Powe, who's a terrific role player). But your supposed to be an AS Forward. Not outhustled by hustle players. Stay in LA for a movie career.

Dedicated_76ers_fan wrote:Lamar Odom cannot play the PF position, that much was proven in the NBA Finals. He is a 4 inch taller version of Andre Iguodala. If we're excited about Odom, then Thad can fill the position just fine and has loads of upside. Anytime LEON POWE can outplay you, your bad. (No Offense to Powe, who's a terrific role player). But your supposed to be an AS Forward. Not outhustled by hustle players. Stay in LA for a movie career.

Leon Powe did outplay just about everyone during the season though... posting per 36 minute statistics, in limited minutes, that were more offensively impressive than Kevin Garnett's possibly.

Powe isn't some schlub. He was the #2 high school recruit, at one point, behind one Lebron James. Knee injuries have hurt his athleticism, but the guy is a heck of a basketball player, who has a real knack for drawing fouls.

Having said that, Odom is a horrible fit for the Sixers. He is a SF/PF tweener. We already have Thad, who has far more upside. I would take the trade proposed by the initial poster though in order to dump Willie's contract, since he stinks.

SendEm wrote:Oh yeah by you saying that "by my logic I wouldn't want Lebron James" proves that you were incapable of understanding the very simple explanation of my logic that I gave in this thread where I said that I'm not pursuing any 28+ year old player that LOST with 2 ALL NBA players. That means Hornacek NOT Lebron James who is what 23? and the BEST player on that team...

Why not? If he is a good player who cares that he lost with 2 all NBA players. If that is the case shouldn't the two all nba players of lead them to the title instead of playing terrible series themselves (ESPECIALLY GASOL). The third option having a bad series shouldn't be the end all for the series. No one played well that series for the Lakers, and that would not change my opinion on acquiring Odom if I wanted him.

Now I don't want Odom because he seems like a very stopgap move, but to throw out one series (where he was not even the softest player in HIS frontcourt) is silly when judging whether or not he'd fit for this team.

Anyone who argues that this team would not be better with Odom must not have really watched Thad at that position very closely this year.

The playoffs against LA proved absolutely nothing claimed by a couple of posters herein. Lamar averaged fourteen and ten during the season, and fourteen (at almost the same 52%) and nine against LA and the best rebounding and defensive big man of recent years. Gasol, for example, had four less points per game than his season average.

The greatness of Garnett is his consistent overall excellence. Against LA he had the same point average he carried in the regular season. But important, I think, is that it was his lowest of Boston's four series. Whoever really wants to see Thad on him could either be an all knowing psychic, blindly optimistic, or a masochist.

I do not know if he is the best financial and talent option available, or even if he really is indeed available. All I know is that we need talent so desperately that to refuse anyone good, but not Tim Duncan great, at this stage of our rebuilding, is just damn silly.

ChuckS wrote:
I do not know if he is the best financial and talent option available, or even if he really is indeed available. All I know is that we need talent so desperately that to refuse anyone good, but not Tim Duncan great, at this stage of our rebuilding, is just damn silly.

I agree. If the measuring stick for free agaents is whether they will make us Champions, then we won't be able to find anyone.