Lakers only offering Odom a three-year deal?

Reports persist that Odom has been offered deals spanning three and four seasons in length from the Lakers, but that differs sharply from every bankable indication we’ve received.

The Lakers’ best offer to Odom, so far, tops out at $27 million over three seasons. The expectation among rival teams remains that the sides will eventually come to terms.

This makes more sense. I don’t know why Odom would turn down a four-year deal from the Lakers worth $36 million to consider a five-year deal worth $34 million from the Heat. If the Lakers are only offering three years, then the total value of the contract is about $24 million after state taxes, so Odom could elect to go with the security of the extra $10 million in the Miami deal.

This, coupled with the Lakers’ decision to pull their offer from the table, might convince Odom to head to Miami and play for the mid-level. Pat Riley also indicated that the Heat are trying to work out a sign-and-trade for Odom, though it’s not clear what players would have to be involved to get the Lakers to agree to take on the extra salary. Udonis Haslem? Michael Beasley?

Clippers going after Ramon Sessions?

The distinct vibe in the stands at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion is that the Clippers — apart from owner Donald Sterling — would greatly prefer to add more of a set-up man to a backcourt rotation that already features Baron Davis and emerging star Eric Gordon as opposed to signing Allen Iverson to a one-year deal up to the full $5.9 million midlevel exception.

The top choice in that scenario? Extending an offer sheet to restricted free agent Ramon Sessions.

I am a huge Sessions fan. Yesterday, I pondered why no one has signed him to an offer sheet when the Bucks are clearly looking to cut salary. He’s only 23, he had the 13th-highest PER amongst all point guards, and the 5th-highest amongst all point guards under the age of 26. With Brandon Jennings playing well in the summer league, the Bucks might be dumb enough to let Sessions go if some team made a substantial ($4-$5 million per year) offer.

A federal judge threw out the SEC suit against Mark Cuban alleging that the Mavs owner participated in insider trading.

Utah will match Blazers’ offer for Paul Millsap.

The Utah Jazz will match the four-year, $32 million offer the Portland Trail Blazers tendered restricted free agent Paul Millsap, the Jazz posted on their Web site Thursday evening. A league source confirmed the development to ESPN.com.

Under the terms of the contract, the Jazz will have to pay the 24-year-old forward $10.3 million this weekend. Portland front-loaded the contract to discourage Utah from matching, but the Jazz had said they would match any offer Millsap received.

While there are those that believe that the Blazers were just trying to put the Jazz in a tough spot, I think they were making a sincere attempt to get one of the best players left on the free agent market. After the Rockets series, the Blazers know that they have to get tougher, and the addition of Millsap would go a long way towards that goal. He doesn’t have the range of LaMarcus Aldridge, but his face up game is improving, so he could fit into Portland’s plan to always have four shooters on the court with Brandon Roy.

With the match, the Blazers have to move on to Plan C. What will it be?

The New York Post speculates that it might be the Knicks’ David Lee, who is apparently still looking for a deal averaging in the $10-$12 million per year range.

T-Wolves GM David Kahn is heading to Spain, hoping to convince Ricky Rubio’s current team (DKV Joventut) to lower his buyout number. Good luck with that, David.