Lakers and Odom Talking Again

July 23, 2009   ·   Paul Raymond   ·   Jump to comments

Just last week we were speculating where Lamar Odom would wind up. That was because the Los Angeles Lakers rescinded their contract offer and were ready to part ways. Well guess what? In a not so surprising turn around the LA Times reports that the two sides are talking again.

A week after the Lakers pulled a pair of contract offers to Lamar Odom off the table, the sides resumed talks Wednesday.

In my eyes the question has to be which side is caving in?

The Lakers initially pulled their offer because Odom was negotiating with the Miami Heat. Basically sour grapes on their part.

Odom was negotiating with other teams to see what’s out there and he didn’t really want to take the pay cut.

So who was it who caved in?

Apparently it may be both. The Times reports the Lakers haven’t raised their contract offer but they came to an understanding that year he’s going to negotiate with other teams. And Odom well all he can find out there money wise is the mid-level exception of about $5 million per season. The Lakers were at least offering an amount around $9 million.

I think whats happening here is Odom has realized the market isn’t as rich for him out there as he thought it was. Did he want to go to Miami? Sure, who wouldn’t want to play close to home but is the pay cut worth it?

Is it worth it to go to another team like the Portland Trail Blazers? They’re a contender yes, but he currently plays for the NBA Champions. A team that has a great chance at repeating next season. So why make the move?

I wouldn’t be surprised if a deal gets done fairly quickly, now that the two sides are talking again. The team wants to get this situation behind them so they can work on the real prize of their off season.

A contract extension for one Kobe Bryant. The one man who wants Odom starting alongside him next season.

“I’m optimistic that he’ll be back,” Bryant said Wednesday. “He makes us a much, much stronger team.”

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