Lamar Odom

So I thought at the beginning of the season, one of our biggest "assets" was that we were able to bring a player of Lamar's "caliber" off the bench.



Are you fucking kidding me? What a sorry ass excuse for a basketball player. Are you for real? This guy pretty much cost us the game today because of his stupid ass mistakes, and his inability to make ANYTHING, just like on Friday against the Heat. I'm sick of this pussy.

Please, 12 million expiring, I'm sure that can net us something, anything. At this point, I'd MUCH rather see Josh Powell out there than Lamar. At least Powell boxes out, hustles, and his a nice looking J. Lamar isn't doing shit right now.

Please trade his ass.

I cannot wait for the day this man is on the roster. I'm fucking sick and tired of all the crap he pulls. It's been too long. Please trade him and get something in return. If not, don't even give him a phone call this offseason. His play hasn't helped us, it's hurt us even more than Luke Walton in the starting lineup. What a fucking joke.

Oh, and the Hornets are now only 2 games back in the loss column for the #1 seed in the West. Ya think that's enough to wake up this team? Probably not.

 

Do it Mitch!



Do it Mitch!



Do it Mitch!

Hey, maybe if we get blown out on Christmas, Mitch will make a move! I'm sure 12 million in expirings can net us something. We pretty much got Gasol for a 9 million expiring contract.

But anyways, this team has issues. Anyone who says, sit around, wait, it's still early is just kidding themselves. Changes need to be made if we want the championship, because this team is nowhere near the level of the Boston Celtics.

 

Me:



But still. The sky is falling, unless you guys are content with 50 or 60 wins, and call it a season.

 

loser.

 

Lamar Odom and Chris Mihm to The Chicago Bulls for Kirk Hinrich, Thabo Sefolosha and Cedric Simmons? It works salary wise, we get an actual point gaurd, some size in cedric (who could be decent) and an extra player in thabo. I would really like it if it was Noah instead of thabo, but i doubt the bulls would do it. but who knows they might.

 

C'mon guys, get real. There's no way Chicago gives us all that for that platter of shit we're offering. Rose is still a rookie, remember, and once he hits that wall you can bet your ass they'll give Hinrich big minutes. And they have no need for Lamar Odom, they're trying to make the playoffs (and Paxson's ass is on the line if they continue to suck) and they have too many players of the tweener mold already.

We don't need Mike Miller. He's just a shooter, and we have a couple of those, although they aren't as good I'll admit. Dude can't really defend so I don't see how he helps us in that regard, and he's not really a ball handler.

And have you seen Gerald Wallace's contract? He's on the books for like 4 or 5 more years. He's good but this is a business, remember? We have too many guys we're locked into already, and if we're harboring any intentions of re-signing Kobe, Wallace is pretty much a no-go.

I agree the team sucks, but get a control of your emotions. You sound like a buncha sensationalist bitches.

Agreed on Powell. Give the dude some fucking minutes.

 

No one is saying these trades will get done. I was just throwing out some suggestions after a frustrating loss, please, take your meds.

This team as it is cannot compete with the Boston Celtics. Hey, maybe they'll prove me wrong on Christmas, but I highly doubt we will see anything more than an embarrassing defeat unless we start making some changes.

The Lakers are one of the most profitable franchises in the NBA. We are the second most valuable franchise, behind the Knicks. Our tickets are one of the most high priced in the entire league, and last year's deep postseason run only gave the franchise more revenue. Not to mention Los Angeles is one of the biggest markets, probably only second to New York, in NBA basketball. We're currently shelling out 78 million in salary.

Do you know how much small town Cleveland is paying? 90 million in salary this year. Small town Cleveland is basically paying 12 million more (24 million if you count luxury tax) than one of the biggest markets in the NBA. Not to mention pretty soon they will have to shell out one of the biggest contracts in league history just to obtain Lebron James, yet they are still shopping around Wally's expiring (similar contract to Lamar) for guys like Vince Carter, another max player. If small town Cleveland is willing to break the bank to get a championship team going, I sure as hell expect Jerry Buss to do the same, if he wants a championship.

Furthermore, Gerald Wallace (IMO the most realistic and optimal target) doesn't have a huge contract. He's getting payed 8 million this year, 9 million the next. The contract increases gradually to 11 million, the last year of his deal, but it's certainly a bargain for his talent. A very realistic contract and far from being a max player.

Will these moves happen? I dunno. But you cannot deny Lamar's lackluster play this entire season and how many of his dumbass mistakes have ended up hurting us at the end of the game, and you cannot tell me that this team, as it currently is, can defeat the Boston Celtics. Hopefully they prove me wrong, but with their play for the past MONTH, I find no reason to be optimistic. And please, don't call me a sentimental bitch when I'm thinking of ways to improve this team.

 

Yeah, I don't think I ever endorsed Lamar Odom. I'm actually highly critical of him and don't trust him with anything, much less end of game/season situations.

My point is the ideas that get thrown out on this forum are almost always unrealistic.

As far as comparing the Lakers to Cleveland, the flaw with that line of thinking is it assumes that more money spent necessarily produces a better team. The whole point is to get the most value for every dollar spent, not to spend the most dollars. Cleveland as it's currently constituted is glutted with bad contracts, and you ignore the fact that while Cleveland may be a "small town," the basketball team is a major revenue grabber. They are, in fact, the fifth most valuable franchise in the NBA.

About Gerald Wallace, his contract may be friendly, but again, we need to get more out of what we have. You can't just cut bait and sign up for $40 million in additional salary without first working with what you have. The problem with the Lakers isn't that they're not well-suited to play defense. We have some of the best athletes in the NBA on our team, and sometimes, in measured flashes, they play great defense. The problem with the Lakers is they need to buy into playing defense all of the time. It's really just a coaching issue, I feel.

 

I mentioned that a week or so back. I always liked Ronny and what he brought to you guys....He was a pest, and decent at the offensive end..........

 

gerald wallace is sick...I don't see how one would fear having him for 4-5 years.........I'd trade She-Mac for G. Wall straight up............

 

I'm glad we agree about Lamar.

I know some of the trades don't have much merit. Like Kirk Hinrich for example. But the Bulls owner has been notoriously known for his stinginess, so maybe 12 million off the books will attract him? I dunno...

Mike Miller is intriguing. I know he isn't much defensively, but him playing alongside Kobe/Gasol/Bynum, and the amount of open looks he'd get would make us pretty much unstoppable offensively. At the very least, he'd contribute more to this team than Lamar. And the Timberwolves are rebuilding, so I'm sure they'd at least think about 12 million dollars extra to spend.

Gerald Wallace, IMO, is the most realistic. Why? He's been rumored to be on the trading block for quite some time now, and Lamar Odom is a favorite of Larry Brown ever since the Olympics at Athens. I'm sure if we push hard for a deal, it could go down.

Now I know a trade is pretty unlikely, and I'm not getting my hopes up. I was just putting out some ideas, that's all.

I'm not saying the Lakers go out and buy every free agent, or trade for everyone available. Money does not win championships. The Knicks and Yankees are examples. But as you mentioned, the whole point is to get the most value for every dollar spent. Are we getting the most value out of Lamar's 12 million dollar deal? I'd say we're getting less than half, and most would probably agree. He's not helping this team in anyway, and we're not rebuilding. We're not getting under the salary cap anytime soon, so what's the point of holding onto him? Sure, it may be a better business move because he's an expiring, but like I said, at some point, if you want to win a championship, you may have to shell out more dollars to do so. Cleveland knows that. Even with their current cap situation (12 million higher than ours) and quite possibly the most expensive contract in NBA history coming up, they're still shopping around their expiring for a player with a max contract because it will give them the best chance of winning the championship. And money, I'm hoping, is something Jerry Buss doesn't let get in the way of this team winning the title. You mentioned Cleveland being the fifth most valuable franchise in the league. That's great and all, but look at the numbers.

http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/forbes.html

Lakers are valued at 447 million dollars, Cavaliers 258 million. That's a considerable drop off no matter how you look at. If small town Cleveland is willing to shed out big bucks to build a championship contending team, honestly, I'm hoping Jerry Buss does the same.

The problem isn't just the players, I agree. But sometimes, you just have to realize that this team isn't going to get it done.

If I were the GM, I'd wait until after Christmas to see how well we measure up with the best team in the league. Gerald Wallace (my #1 choice), no matter how you look at it, gives us a better chance to win a championship. He slashes, gets to the free throw line, hustles, and plays defense. That's exactly someone we need on this team. Lamar Odom at this point, does not give us ANYTHING. If we just flat out cut him off the roster, I doubt we'd see much dropoff in production from this roster, because he doesn't impact the game at all. There's no use holding onto him when you have ability to upgrade the roster with a better player. And it's not like we don't have the resources to do it. Jerry just has to open up his pockets.

 

That link you posted isn't updated. Here's the most recent NBA valuations directly from the source, Forbes magazine:

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/32/nba08_NBA-Team-Valuations_Revenue.html

So yes, Lakers are worth $107M more than the Cavs, but take into consideration the higher cost of doing business in LA versus "small town" Cleveland, and the difference isn't as remarkable. The more important stat IMO is revenue, where the Lakers last year earned $32M more than the Cavs. As far as the Cavs trying to win now, you realize they're urgently trying to keep Lebron right? They know he'll walk if they don't put out a contender, so despite making less money than the Lakers, from a business standpoint it makes sense for them to spend big in the short term in the hopes of massive additional revenue in the long run from Lebron staying. The Lakers face no comparable urgency.

Lastly, can you point me to where I said Lamar wasn't deadweight and shouldn't be gotten rid of? I'm not saying he's some kind of savior that the Lakers must hold on to, I'm just saying from a business standpoint, I'm not sure Jerry Buss and company can justify 40 million in additional salary for Wallace when, on paper, we have a team right now that can win it all AND they're trying to resign Kobe (who'll want more money). As a fan, I would love to have Wallace on my team, but as a realist, I'm not sure we'll see it happen. Anyway, in this case, I hope you're right and I'm wrong.

 

Basically what I'm getting at is, Jerry Buss has more lee-way to add salary to improve this team than Cleveland does. And I sincerely hope he does so.

But I agree 100% with you that we have a better chance of standing pat than making a deal. Let's just hope that whatever happens, it's for the best of the team...

 

If we do trade Lamar... id want it for someone who has Defence on his mind! Someone like G. Wallace. However, Wallace can also score a lot of points, therefore the Zen Master should put a not in his head that he is in there for his Defence and not his scoring.

BTW, for this to happen Charlotte would have to add another player or cash since Lamar (14.5M) is way more than Wallace (9.5M)

Hinrich would be very appealing... BUT what would that do to our PG rotation? Plus the bulls would have to add another player to match Odom's contract (at least they get an expiring)
Odom for Hinrich + Noah or
Odom + Mihm (expiring) for Hinrich + Thomas (i wish: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...s=549~617~1981~3032&teams=4~4~13~13&te=&cash= )

Mike Miller... Hmmm... Deadly from 3 and im sure Phil would give him PT because of his name alone LOL

Odom, Mihm, Vlad for Mike Miller and Jason Collins !!! Do it Mitch!!! (it works too: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/featur...s=549~617~987~558&teams=16~16~13~13&te=&cash= )

*Note:
-Lamar Odom making way more than Mike Miller(9.02M) and Gerald Wallace(9.5M) is just way WRONG. If he doesnt sign for less i fully expect him to get traded for a guy that can produce and costs less.

-I also NEVER expected to be talking trade this year with this team. I was so sure that we would dominate everyone. Oh well, thats what you get for being too complacent.

 

Wow...

That would be amazing.