This sucks.
After the NBA shot down the deal that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets, and Lamar Odom to the New Orleans Hornets, it left a bitter taste to the players involved in it.
Nobody took it harder than Odom, who spent seven seasons with the Lakers and the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. He felt that he was unwanted by the team that he helped win two championships in the last two years.
This prompted him to request a trade out of the team and Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak obliged. Odom was sent to the Dallas Mavericks for a salary exception an draft picks.
As a fan, this is utter crap.
How do you replace a versatile big man who's always a threat to a double-double?
Some will argue that Odom will be less effective in Mike Brown's system than he was in the Triangle Offense. A double-double threat? A lot of people see an inconsistent power forward.
The way I see it, this deal is disadvantageous to the Lakers because 1) they give up a trade piece that could be packaged with other players to obtain an All-Star (like Dwight Howard), and 2) There's no immediate replacement for Odom's production. Yes the team saves salary, but the Lakers have never been about penny-pinching.
If this is the last deal the Lakers will make in the off-season, then we'll see more of Derrick Caracter off the bench. And that is NOT a good thing.
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