Free agent forward Lamar Odom will return to the Los Angeles Lakers, an NBA source said Thursday.
One source with knowledge of the talks told ESPN.com the four-year deal is worth $33 million if the Lakers exercise the final season.
One source close to the process said Odom will come away with a guaranteed $27 million from the new contract, matching the original value of the three-year, $27 million deal Lakers owner Jerry Buss pulled off the table earlier this month.
It’s believed that the structure of the new deal calls for Odom to earn $25 million over the first three seasons, with the Lakers owing him $2 million in the fourth year if they elect not to pick up their team option.
Hopefully this is finally over. It sounds like the Lakers put the original offer (or a similar offer) that they originally rescinded back on the table and that was enough to get Odom to bite. He’s leaving about $10 million in guaranteed money on the table by rejecting the Heat’s offer, but he’ll a chance to make that up as he enters the 2012-13 season as a 32-year-old free agent, assuming the Lakers don’t exercise the final year of this deal.
The Lakers needed to retain Odom to avoid moving backward this summer. They’re the team to beat in the West, but Ron Artest is a lot less dependable than Trevor Ariza, so he needs to keep it together and play at a high level. Andrew Bynum is the other wild card. If he can stay healthy, the Lakers will be very tough to beat.
I think Phil, Lamar, and Kobe will keep Artest in line, each in their own unique way.Phil has the cred generated by all those championships, Lamar has known him for sixteen years, and Artest has a ton of respect for Kobe. While eccentric, Artest has been doing a lot better the last few years and he should be pretty motivated to win his first title. There is always risk involved but if anyone can pull it off Phil can. He did pretty well with Rodman if you remember.I watched every single Laker game last year(via league pass) and one of the primary weaknesses of the Lakers was defending strong threes such as Melo,Pierce,Lebron, and even Artest himself.Ariza was simply too light in the wallet to check these guys. While Trevor brought some other things to the table(along with some inconsistency) Artest will not be bullied around when the physical threes post the Lakers up. This will make double teams in the the post rarely happen and really jack up the other team’s spacing. My name is not Joestradamus so who knows what will happen.Artest could be in a straitjacket this time next year or he could be a champion. Whether you are a Laker fan or not it should be damn interesting.
I am higher on Artest’s current defensive game than Bill Simmons is, but this story would have me worried if I were a Laker fan (which I’m not)…
I know for a fact he routinely broke plays on offense and is still a handful behind the scenes, and the Rockets buried every 2008-09 story that would have made this patently clear. For instance, Artest routinely walked around in his underwear in public places: the Rockets’ team bus, hotels, you name it. People around the team barely flinched after a while. Before Game 7 of the Lakers series — only the biggest game of the entire season — they finally flinched.
Here’s what happened: Artest missed the first two team buses (the ones for players, coaches and team personnel) from Houston’s hotel to the Staples Center and barely made the third and final bus, which was reserved for business staff, sponsors and friends of the team. These stunned people watched Artest sprint to the bus right before it left, jump on and take one of the remaining seats … yes, wearing only his underwear. Owner Leslie Alexander happened to be sitting on the bus and witnessed the whole thing. And you wonder why the Houston Rockets didn’t make any effort whatsoever to bring back Artest.
(Note: If you want to make the “Kobe and Phil can keep him in check much like MJ and Phil kept Rodman in check” argument, just remember Rodman was still a world-class defender and rebounder when Chicago acquired him. Artest is neither. If anything, his athleticism is slipping and he can’t defend quick small forwards anymore. So why even risk it? Wait, why am I complaining? Thank you for screwing up your title defense, Lakers!)
You left Lamar out of the equation. Due to their shared New York History he could be a real help in this equation. Derek Fisher can also be a good influence with his veteran leadership and professionalism. Houston was an entirely different situation. Who could keep him totally focused there, T-Slack or maybe Von Wafer? There was a distinct burden to score in Houston due to injury issues and a roster in flux. There will be no such issue (barring injuries) in L.A. I’m not saying that it will work for sure but I do think there’s a better chance with this crew than any other due to the formidable support system that L.A. provides. Whether you like it or not Artest is still a world class defender in this league and I suspect that your analysis is not rooted in reality but in wishful thinking as evidenced by your last sentence. It is hardly the only risky move made by a team this offseason as demonstrated by the Celtics, Pistons, and Cavs just to name a few. One thing we can probably agree on is that the season can’t start fast enough so that we can see all of this play out good or bad, depending on perspective.
No need to get bristly, I was quoting Bill Simmons there (everything in italics), from one of his recent columns. Odom wasn’t signed yet, which is why he wasn’t mentioned.
They could very well keep him in line, but crazy is crazy, and Ron Artest is crazy. Simmons argues that he needs shots to be happy, and that could potentially screw up the Lakers’ solid offense since he’s a poor shooter.
Personally, considering Ariza’s camp was stupidly playing hardball, I like the signing of Artest, but it’s definitely for the short term as Ariza is a much better prospect in the long term.
No bristles, just respectful observation. I think there is potential for the triangle to turn into a square or circle so to speak but I think Phil will run enough plays to keep him happy, especially post ups(where he can often command a double team) and an occasional pick and pop. With scoring options like Kobe,Pau,Odom, and Bynum(if healthy) I think the pressure to score will not be overwhelming like it was in Houston where oftentimes if he didn’t score they would get blown out. I see the rationale of his signing by the Lakers but do concede that it is a risk for he is surely one strange cat, that Artest.He does bring a bit of toughness to the table though and it should be fascinating to watch from a sociological angle.