It wasn’t too long ago that Lamar Odom was first shipped out of Los Angeles, only to have the trade overturned by the NBA. Well, since you’ve already offended one of the best players on your team and the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, you may as well get rid of him now. Days after he refused to show up to training camp, the Los Angeles Lakers have traded Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks for a first-round pick and an $8.9 million trade exception. It’s a deal that has Lakers players questioning new head coach Mike Brown and GM Mitch Kupchak.
“To be honest with you, I don’t like it,” complained Laker superstar Kobe Bryant. “It’s tough to lose Lamar. Pau [Gasol] is still here, and we’re all thankful for that. It’s hard when you’ve been through so many battles with players to just see them go somewhere else. Especially to them. We were supposed to come back and get them back. It’s tough . . . Do I think we got too little? Who did we get? I don’t think Mark Cuban is protesting this trade.”
Indeed, it seems like the Lakers dumped a pouty Odom for next to nothing. The first round pick will be nice, as will the nearly $9 million in cap space, but last year Odom averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game coming off the bench. That’s a lot of skill to give away for a draft pick and one of the key players on the 2010 championship team, especially when you’re giving him to the 2011 championship team.
Tags: Dallas Mavericks, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, Lamar Odom, Lamar Odom traded from LA to Dallas, Lamar Odom traded, NBA, National Basketball Association, professional basketball, Lamar Odom traded to Dallas, Lamar Odom traded out of Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant, Mitch Kupchak, Mike Brown, trades, Lamar Odom traded for first-round pick and trade exception