Despite being outmuscled and outhustled by the Boston Celtics in the Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers enter the season as the odds-on favorite to win the title. With the up-and-coming Andrew Bynum returning from injury, their status as favorites does some sense. But there is already trouble in Lala Land, as the coaching staff can’t figure out how to best utilize the talent on the roster. There are two issues at hand: 1) Lamar Odom is in the final year of his contract and has always been a bad fit for the triangle offense and 2) it’s no sure thing that Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol can play well together.

Heading into the season, the team seemed intent on moving Gasol to power forward and starting Bynum at center, so much so that Phil Jackson suggested that Lamar Odom might come off the bench. While the trio would make a long and formidable frontline, none of them can hit a jumper outside of 15 feet, and even that’s a stretch. Defenses would simply pack the lane, which would make it next to impossible for Kobe Bryant to get to the rim.

For his part, Odom bristled at the idea of coming off the bench.

“He must have woke up and bumped his head. He probably hit his head on something — boom,” Odom said about Jackson. “To start off like that, you’ve got to be out of your . . . mind.”

“I’ll make you a deal. If my armpits smell like roses, I’ll come off the bench.â€�

I could write a thousand words about why Odom’s umbrage at the prospect of moving to a sixth man role proves that he’s selfish and thinking only (or mainly) of himself, but suffices to say, he’s in the final year of his contract and he doesn’t want his stats to take a hit. The better his numbers, the better the contract he’s going to get next summer.