Filed under: Basketball | Tags: Basketball, Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA
Odom(R): Too important to Kobe Bryant(L) and the Lakers to let him sign elsewhere
After drawn out contract negotiations led the Portland Trail Blazers and the Miami Heat to try and take away a pivotal piece of the defending champions, the Lakers finally manned up and gave Lamar Odom the four year contract he was looking for. After Lakers owner Jerry Buss allegedly took the Lakers three year, $27 million contract off the table; it looked like Dwayne Wade might just get his reunification wish. Unfortunately for the Heat (and all other playoff contenders), they could offer no more than the mid-level exception(starting salary around $6 million rising a couple hundred thousand each year) for five years, making the potential move to Miami not about signing for a better team or better money. With the two reasons for signing a contract lacking, no one should be surprised that Odom has re-upped with the defending champs with a starting salary just over $8 million.
Going into the offseason the Lakers game plan was supposed to revolve around re-signing Trevor Ariza and Odom. After letting Ariza go to the Houston Rockets and bringing in basket case (and longtime friend of Odom’s) Ron Artest as Ariza’s replacement, it seemed far-fetched that the Lakers would let Odom sign elsewhere. After averaging eleven points, eight rebounds, three assists and a block per game from the bench and giving the Lakers an edge by completing three headed big man monster (along with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum) in a league devoid of good bigs, Odom’s role was too vital to let him slip away. The Lakers will need all the help they can get to keep Artest from exploding at any moment (lest we forget the “Malice at the Palace”) and keep his focus on basketball. Not having Odom would be a step in the wrong direction and potentially be a cause for explosion. Odom’s consistency on the court also helps to cover for Andrew Bynum’s inconsistency. In ten of the fifty games played during the regular season by Bynum, he scored less than ten points AND had less than ten rebounds. As a seven footer that gets guarded by the opposing team’s less strong post defender night in and night out (because of teammate Gasol’s ability to score at will in the post) that is atrocious. (more…)
Filed under: Basketball | Tags: Basketball, Charlotte Bobcats, Emeka Okafor, Ike Diogu, NBA, New Orleans Hornets, Tyson Chandler
In these hard economic times when the NBA salary cap of $69.9 Million is shrinking not growing, most offseason trades have involved exchanging expiring contracts for either similar expiring contracts (a la Quentin Richardson changing teams three times already) or a player that drastically improves the team (see Richard Jefferson to the Spurs). The recent trade sending Emeka Okafor to New Orleans and Tyson Chandler to Charlotte did not involve an expiring contract. Okafor just completed the first year in a six year, $72 Million deal and Chandler has two years and $23 Million left on his deal. Though the deal didn’t involve an expiring contract, the motive for the trade was purely financial for the Charlotte Bobcats.
Okafor: Proof the Hornets care about winning
With an owner who is thinking of selling the team, the Bobcats have been told to lower their payroll. This trade saves the Bobcats the $40 million guaranteed to Okafor over the last three years of his contract. While this trade does trim payroll for the Hornets in the short term, saving them $1 Million in salary (Chandler gets paid $1 million more than Okafor; the savings is really $2 million if you take into account that the New Orleans are over the salary cap, kicking in the luxury tax that requires payment of a dollar for every dollar over it), it will cost them more in the long term which has surprised many, as it was originally thought that Hornets’ owner George Shinn wanted to minimize payroll as well. Previous attempts this year to trade Chandler were purely financial and for expiring contracts.
Chandler, who was cast into the NBA fires as a teenager with the Chicago Bulls, has always been overrated as many big men are in a league devoid of them (don’t get me started on Jerome James, Marcin Gortat, Eddy Curry or Raef Lafrentz to name a few). His injury problems are also likely to continue but with two other back up centers in Nazr Mohammed and DeSagana Diop and $40 million in savings, Larry Brown was willing to take that risk. (more…)
