Trading Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks clearly wasn’t good for anyone. The Lakers missed their Sixth Man of the Year, Odom missed L.A. and the Mavericks missed out on a legitimate chance to defend their title. That wasn’t all Odom’s fault but he clearly wasn’t happy playing in Dallas and it showed.
Odom’s attitude all year got him released from the team and now the Mavericks are looking to get rid of his contract any way they can. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith says Odom would love to return home.
“(Odom) desperately wants to come back and wants to play for the Los Angeles Lakers,” said Smith. “Mike Brown desperately wants him back. He’s going to talk to Buss and Lakers hierarchy to see what they can do about getting Lamar Odom back.”
If Odom were to go back to the Lakers, I guess that would show they just thought this year was a fluke and wasn’t indicative of any drop off in Lamar’s ability. I would probably agree that Dallas just wasn’t a good fit for Odom and he would play much better back in the purple and gold.
The Lakers would surely love to have their old Odom back. One of the biggest issues with the team this year was the pressure placed on Kobe Bryant to score. If Lamar comes back, and returns to his prime level, and the Lakers make one of the big offseason moves that has been rumored (Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard or picking up Deron Williams), they may be back to a contender.
There’s a lot of speculation going on surrounding the Lakers. Free agency starts next month and I would expect a lot of fireworks out of L.A. That city doesn’t tolerate losing for very long. I’m sure they’ll be doing whatever they can to get back on top.
