A fter putting in a serious bid for New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul, the Los Angeles Lakers appeared to be on their way to another successful offseason. That is until the Lakers traded Lamar Odom, who is considered by most teams to be a substantial trading chip, to the Dallas Mavericks, of all teams, for basically nothing.
Hopefully, this is some sort of pick they can swap for something else. Otherwise, trading Odom for a first-round 2012 Maverick pick, which will probably be a late pick, seems like a salary dump. And that is fine, too. It’s just the mixed signals that are hard to understand. Kobe Bryant wants to win, again. You go after Paul. It doesn’t work out, so you send Odom to the team that just wiped the court clean with you and swept you out of the playoffs?
Because Odom was a member of the Lakers since 2004, they know how valuable, multi-dimensional, and how reliable he is.
Odom Highlights:
Not only does losing Odom take away another player from the Lakers who is difficult to guard, but in losing Odom, the Lakers’ bench and/or backup from Bynum is reduced. Who would their backup really be? Are they resigning free agent Joe Smith? If not, then it would probably be Derrick Caracter.
The Lakers went after all-stars Dwight Howard, a little, and Chris Paul, a lot, but then gave up a major trading chip for basically nothing. The Lakers giving Odom to Dallas really helps the Mavericks repair themselves inside, since it looks like the Mavs are losing Tyson Chandler to the New York Knicks. And how does it affect the Lakers’ chances of landing Howard or Paul? ESPN reports that the Paul deal is off again, for now. Also, Howard has been linked to several teams—Dallas, Lakers, Nets, Clippers—, so there’s nothing solid there for the Lakers, either.
As usual, I’m gonna cross my fingers, close my eyes and hope they know what they are doing…that before the season starts the Lakers will have constructed a team worthy of championship contention. So far, this offseason has been a real head-scratcher for the Lakers.
And in case what you were wondering. This picture from the weekend Lakers training camp perfectly expresses what Kobe thinks about the Odom to Mavs trade:
Rob S. De France is a College and University instructor of English Composition living in Los Angeles. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing. De France has played, coached, and officiated competitive high school basketball in California for many years. Recently, De France, his wife, and another colleague started an internationally read magazine at Shwibly.com.
