Monday Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said that he wasn’t sure the organization and Lamar Odom’s representative were ‘on the same page.’
Now it looks as if the Lakers offer to the free agent forward has been taken off the table, according to our Elliott Teaford, who is attending the Lakers summer league game in Las Vegas.
At the Los Angeles Times, Broderick Turner explains why Lakers owner Jerry Buss decided to take the offer off the table:
Lakers owner Jerry Buss is upset that Odom and his representative, agent Jeff Schwartz, haven’t made contact with the organization regarding its $9-million per season offer for three years, one source said Tuesday.
Odom and his agent have been seeking $10 million for five years.
Neither Schwartz nor Odom could be reached for comment. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said, “I wouldn’t comment on negotiations.”
The source also said Buss was not happy that Odom and Schwartz have been having talks with the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat about a deal, but have refused to talk to the Lakers.
I’ll have more as this story develops, but my first response is that the Lakers odds of repeating as champions are significantly worse without Odom. They’re already committed to $83.8 million in salary for the upcoming season, so they possess neither the cap space nor the trade assets to replace a player of Odom’s ilk. In an interview with KSPN-AM four days ago, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak noted the impossibility of finding a replacement for Odom at this stage of free agency:
“We do have contingency plans, but you’re not going to find a Lamar Odom at the end of August sitting around waiting to be signed by the Lakers or anybody else,” Kupchak said. “Those types of players, they’re commodities. We’ll do the best we can and we’ll move on, but there is no replacement for Lamar Odom.”
UPDATE: “Many in the Lakers’ organization believe that Odom wants to accept Buss’ offer — and so do those close to Odom — but he has failed to convince his agent. If the two sides do begin negotiating again, Lakers sources said Buss, if he’s willing to talk, will lower his offer to Odom. Those same sources said Buss is a man of principle who sticks by his decision.”
July 15th, 2009 at 1:22 am
odom,s play in the playoffs was great.You already lost ariza,sign odom and you a great chance to repeat.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:24 am
odom,s play in the playoffs was great.You already lost ariza,sign odom and youhave a great chance to repeat.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:34 am
kobe talk to some one in managment and get odom sign please.If you can
July 15th, 2009 at 1:44 am
I agree with your assessment that the Lakers are not nearly as scary without Odom.
He’s a matchup nightmare, plays good defense, and rebounds. And he spreads the floor for Kobe and Pau.
of course, you guys have Kobe – you could surround the Lakers with scrubs and repeat. ;)
Where is Odom going to go? No one else is offering him anything are they?
July 15th, 2009 at 5:48 am
Odom needs to be a laker in order for them to repeat.
But what’s really dumb is that Luke Walton from the lakers is getting paid 8 million a year. That’s more than Artest. Come on, seriously!
Walton does not deserve it especially coming off the bench. He needs to take a pay cut of one million or two and give it to Odom. Odoms a star he deserves ten million a year but just lakers can’t go over the cap. He said he will take less money and this economy is not getting better.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
darin chamberlain: I’m sure that Bryant has placed a call to Lamar. Given his history, I’ll be very surprised if Bryant doesn’t attempt to intervene in the negotiations.
Tsunami: How can you take a shot at Kobe at a time like this? :) I think negotiations will probably remain at a stalemate until Utah matches Portland’s offer for Millsap. Honestly, I’m surprised Kevin Pritchard hasn’t made a run at Odom. More on that later.
Christian: The Lakers signed Walton to a six-year deal, $30 million deal back in 2007. He’s slated to earn $4,840,000 next season. Walton is a little overpaid, but he’s a perfect fit for the triangle offense.
The Lakers reportedly offered Odom a three-year, $30 million contract, and his agent was unresponsive.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I thought Waltons deal was bigger but still a lot since he’s not going to play a lot with Artest Odom and Pau at forwards. Also not to mention Kobe plays forward sometimes as well. I like Walton but he’s just to flaky. But yeah Lakers had a good offer for Odom it just wasn’t enough to Odom. No other team can pay Odom besides Portland or some other teams that don’t want to spend money because they need to resign a star. It’s going to be a while for Odom to sign a contract.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
this isn’t the place to take shots at Kobe.
Among Laker fans you have a more rational view everything.
I just read so many pieces this year attacking Odom non stop. I really don’t think the lakers truly understand how talented their team is.
July 15th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Oh yeah there team is super talented. Especially there bench and there bench didn’t really do good last year compared to the year they lost to the finals against the Celtics. I just feel like the Lakers need Odom because he helps the team a lot. I always believed the way Odom goes the way the Lakers go. And I don’t know if people know this but Odom and Kobe had to guard Lebron when they played each other and the Cavs lost those two games because Odom played great. He got rebounds, scored points and held Lebron under twenty points. That’s a lot of work coming off the bench. Honestly the lakers are scary right now. This might be there line up. PG is Fisher, SG is Kobe, SF is Artest, PF is Gasol And C is Bynum. That’s still a good line up. Then you add Odom coming off the bench. It’s just too much. The only team that can honestly play with the lakers in a best of seven would have to be the Celtics.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Christian: Utah has until Friday to match Portland’s offer, so this will probably be resolved shortly.
Tsunami: You said, “I really don’t think the lakers truly understand how talented their team is.” I hope you’re referring to those misguided fans who fail to grasp Odom’s value to the team, because the Lakers franchise speaks for itself. Buss is one of the best owners in professional sports. Kupchak has proven himself to be a shrewd evaluator of talent.
They’ve been more than fair to Odom. A three-year, $30 million contract is — in my opinion — more than market value for 30-year-old player who has struggled with consistency throughout his career.
July 16th, 2009 at 1:02 am
yes – referring to fans.