LO - too much too soon?

[acion]

Will the euphoria about LO playing so well - what might be lost is that he may be playing himself out of any future Lakers plans. He stated in the past that he was willing to stay with the Lakers for less, but with his new level of play - that 'more' has gone substantially higher. So he may not be able to turn down the new greater level of money that other teams might be willing to pay given his new level of play - and with the Lakers cap considerations they can''t match. With so much already tied up in Kobe (plus his potential ability to opt out), Bynum (boy is he glad he signed his new deal before the injury and the lower cap figure - wonder if Mitch is saying 'sh*t" we should have waited), and Gasol it'll be hard to have a fourth player in the 10M+ level a year and still have any money to pay anyone else.

[fareweatherfan]

First off, I think Odom's play will begin to settle at a level a bit lower than what we have been seeing (its arguably begun to decline slightly from his few big games on the road trip).

BUT, if he continues to play at a high level anywhere near what we are seeing currently, another team WILL offer him more money than we can afford to pay him.

I would not mind one bit if Odom took the higher offer. Especially if we win a championship this year. He'll have a ring, and will have EARNED one last big contract.

[KobeFan]

Over the course of an 82 game season you go through many highs and lows; at the end of the day you settle into your career averages -- and Odom's career averages are quite good.

He's a 15/10/5 player who makes 50% of his shots and causes mismatches all over the floor.

What he does over the last 30 games of this season, will have little merit (so long as he stays healthy) when it comes to the types of offers he'll receive.

He'll be worth 4-5 guaranteed years at $10-$15M per

[Anklebreaker702]

No, Lamar played great from Jan '08 thru June '08. Now he's putting together a complete season. If he would work out in the off season he would most definitely be an All-Star. He will settle for less especially if we win the title. He wants to be part of a Dynasty.

[biggamejames2]

oh how quick everyone is to forget the gigantic egg he laid last season in the finals. He played great in the Utah and SAS series and was somewhere in Hawii during the finals. Let's see if he can maintain this level of play from start to finish before we talk about him getting a big deal that we cant come close to matching. He has a bit of an 'un-clutch' label on him and I think that if he were to come up big through the entire postseason...shedding that label would be what gets him the big bucks.

[dockingsched]

oh how quick everyone is to forget the gigantic egg he laid last season in the finals. He played great in the Utah and SAS series and was somewhere in Hawii during the finals. Let's see if he can maintain this level of play from start to finish before we talk about him getting a big deal that we cant come close to matching. He has a bit of an 'un-clutch' label on him and I think that if he were to come up big through the entire postseason...shedding that label would be what gets him the big bucks.

yeah, people are quick to forget cause EVERYONE played like crap, lol.


anywhoo, lamar has been playing GREAT for more than just these ten games as a starter, you add his numbers with last yr when pau reached the team, and lamar is a great example of consistency. all that said, lamar isn't some rookie, he's not coming off of a rookie deal. he's going to be 30 and any team that wants lamar will want him because of the style of play he's displayed his entire career, not cause of some hot streak.

[hermes]

i am going to go on the record right now and say that Lamar will be a laker for next season, and most likely the rest of his career

and i'd be willing to bet whatever credibility i have

: which isn't a whole lot

[LLcoleJ]

Considering the available free agents, economy and the teams that have capspace. He won't have a lot of options.

[TylersLakers]

Considering the available free agents, economy and the teams that have capspace. He won't have a lot of options.

I think some of these players like Odom, Shawn Marion, etc. are going to realize with everything how it is and most teams angling for the free agent crazy Summer of 2010.. that they're going to fall through the cracks and probably have to accept a mid-level exception type contract. I could easily see us re-signing Odom for 6-8 million a year and signing Ariza to 5-6.5 million a year.

[8'sReverse]

I think, for as long as Lamar has been in the NBA, the league knows what he brings to a team. If they want to and/or are willing to match or overpay for Lamar more power to them. I think the ball is in Lamar's court in the off-season where he has the power of choice, but in the end I truely believe he's going to be another Manny Ramirez... letting his agent do the talking digging Lamar into a deep whole only his former team can pull him out of.

[dockingsched]

I think, for as long as Lamar has been in the NBA, the league knows what he brings to a team. If they want to and/or are willing to match or overpay for Lamar more power to them. I think the ball is in Lamar's court in the off-season where he has the power of choice, but in the end I truely believe he's going to be another Manny Ramirez... letting his agent do the talking digging Lamar into a deep whole only his former team can pull him out of.

thats ridiculous. baseball doesn't have a salary cap so a player can better afford to wait it out since at any time a team can come in with an offer. in basketball once teams use up their capspace, thats it, no more money.

your description of the situation is off anyway, since manny dogged it in boston and forced his way out. his agent wasn't out there forcing him to act a fool. lamar is was out there sacrificing his own numbers and playing time for the sake of the team in his contract yr.

[8'sReverse]

I think, for as long as Lamar has been in the NBA, the league knows what he brings to a team. If they want to and/or are willing to match or overpay for Lamar more power to them. I think the ball is in Lamar's court in the off-season where he has the power of choice, but in the end I truely believe he's going to be another Manny Ramirez... letting his agent do the talking digging Lamar into a deep whole only his former team can pull him out of.

thats ridiculous. baseball doesn't have a salary cap so a player can better afford to wait it out since at any time a team can come in with an offer. in basketball once teams use up their capspace, thats it, no more money.

your description of the situation is off anyway, since manny dogged it in boston and forced his way out. his agent wasn't out there forcing him to act a fool. lamar is was out there sacrificing his own numbers and playing time for the sake of the team in his contract yr.

I didn't really mean it like that...

I meant that really in the end it will ultimately be Lamar's choice to stay or go, wait for a contract that satisfies him and/or his agent or go back to the team that gave him life and a "second chance" so-to-say. I was in no way comparing Lamar's game/skill/attitude/past actions to Manny, nor was I comparing the economies of each sport. I was just, in a sense, comparing his options as a free agent. And perhaps it was a bad example on my part anyway, Manny was on my mind since I heard the radio news on the assumption that he and the Dodgers agreed on a contract (which, as I look it up, seems incorrect).

But, to try and further explain my crazy thinking... from the situation the OP suggested that because he's inflating his stats that creates a bigger contract buzz that the Lakers cannot sustain in order to keep 'Drew, Kobe, Gasol, Ariza, etc. together Lamar will have a choice to take a smaller, less impactful, contract in order to stay in LA or wait it out for a bigger contract from another team. I also tried to imply that Lamar will probably let his agent do what all agents try to do, get more money.

[butter17]

I Think lamar is happy being a laker. He is thinking about championships right now and dynasty.I know teams are going 2 throw money at him, But how many championship caliber teams are going 2 throw money.The only teams that are going 2 be able 2 pay lamar are bad teams,and believe me lamar does not want to go anywhere and lose at this point of his career.I think lamar will take a pay cut 2 win.

[Anklebreaker702]

I Think lamar is happy being a laker. He is thinking about championships right now and dynasty.I know teams are going 2 throw money at him, But how many championship caliber teams are going 2 throw money.The only teams that are going 2 be able 2 pay lamar are bad teams,and believe me lamar does not want to go anywhere and lose at this point of his career.I think lamar will take a pay cut 2 win.

Right on the money! A lot of players make that mistake & regret it. Lamar is finally in a place where the pressure is not on him to be the man or even the 2nd man. He likes this low key roll where he can just do his thing under the radar and you see how well he performs when there's no pressure. Most teams are tapped out anyway & are borrowing money from the league & the others are waiting for the 2010 lottery. So I think you're right, if Lamar is smart he will be a Laker!

[Lakers4Lyfe]

I have a feeling Lamar will stay with us next season. Not too many teams with cap space this summer I believe. I hope he stays with us for a few more years at least. I have always felt that he is underrated by a lot of us Laker fans, not necessarily just this site but to others I've been to. I think we take a lot of what he does for granted.

Hopefully he takes about 7-8 mil a year or so, not sure how likely that is but that would be ideal in my opinion

[Anklebreaker702]

I have a feeling Lamar will stay with us next season. Not too many teams with cap space this summer I believe. I hope he stays with us for a few more years at least. I have always felt that he is underrated by a lot of us Laker fans, not necessarily just this site but to others I've been to. I think we take a lot of what he does for granted.

Hopefully he takes about 7-8 mil a year or so, not sure how likely that is but that would be ideal in my opinion

I don't know if he is underrated or if we all realize the potential he possesses. He now brings that night after night so everyone is now giving props where props are due.

[Mamba Venom]

LO should get 10 mil a year and the Lakers should keep him and let Ariza go if need be.

Lakers need (Fish stays no matter what)
1 Kobe
2 Gasol
3 Bynum
4 coach pj
5 Odom
6 Farmar (PG depth)
7 Ariza

Take the emotion out of it as a fan... LO is needed more than Ariza. The Lakers can get vets on the cheap from here on out to fill the bench.

Laker championship caliber teams w/ cheap vets Mitch Richmond, Glen Rice, Ron Harper, Karl Malone, GP... the Lakers will get Shaq for the minimum in 2010 - 2011 and many others soon. Especially PGs like Kidd I expect

[acion]

The issue is what is the luxury number for the lakers with the cap going down:

I think the current guaranteed money for the roster next year is (and this is roughly what I remember so could be off a bit but I'm fairly sure with the top 8 the Laker are already at the luxury limit:

Kobe - $21M
Bynum - $10M
Gasol - $16M
Walton - $5M
Sasha - $5M
Fisher - $5M
Morrison - $5M
Farmar - $1.5M

that's 68.5 guaranteed with the cap projected to be between $65-$68. So for only 8 players the Lakers are already at the threshold, and very little hope in trading Sasha, Walton, or Morrison. So signing Odom to a $8-10Myr deal actually costs the lakers $16-$20M. While it is easy to spend other people's money - that is still a lot of jack. And Ariza's going to get at least the mid-level exemption at $5M per year. Plus they'll have to sign 4-5 players at the minimum to fill out the roster that will cost another total $18M ($9M in base salary for Ariza and spare parts, plus $9M in luxury tax).

I can't see the Lakers signing both Ariza and Odom and being willing to pay that amount - even if Odom is willing to go below market at 7-8M.

[semi-sentient]

We need to make every effort to resign Odom, and quite frankly if given a choice I think we have to take Odom over Ariza. His numbers next to Gasol have been nothing short of spectacular and if it takes $10+ million to resign him then we need to do it. Losing him would be huge, particularly when you consider the amount of injuries we've had to deal with over the past few seasons. Having said that, resigning both players is a must, and I think it would show a lot about Kobe's character if he opted out and took less money (and a long term contract to close out his career). He has to realize that keeping this team together means competing for a championship for the next 6-7 years and I'm pretty sure Kobe cares about his legacy more than anything else, which means adding more championships to his resume. If he wants to crack the top 10 all-time mark and get anywhere near the immortal six he's going to have to make some sacrifices.

Anyway, this is what Odom has done when starting next to Gasol:

2007-08: 28 G, 15.2 PTS (63% FG), 11.1 REB, 3.8 AST, 1.1 STL, 1.0 BLK, 1.9 TOV
2008-09: 11 G, 16.1 PTS (52% FG), 13.1 REB, 2.4 AST, 1.1 STL, 1.4 BLK, 2.1 TOV

I don't think this is fluke either. With Kobe and Gasol in the game, it really opens things up for Odom and he's taken full advantage. What more could you possibly want from a 3rd option?