In what seems like a desperate attempt to either find anyone who can somehow contribute to them next season or bringing back together the core of a two-time NBA championship team, the Los Angeles Lakers might be trying to bring back Lamar Odom.
According to Ramona Shelbourne the Lakers have reached out to the player, who spent seven seasons with the Lakers, winning two NBA titles and reaching another final between 2008-2010.
What is left of Lamar Odom of a basketball player? To answer that question, you have to go back to the end of the lockout period in 2011, when he was mentioned of being part of a trade that would have landed Chris Paul in Los Angeles, with the Lakers.
The NBA decided to veto that trade, and some might say this was the beginning of the fall for the Lakers, who find themselves in quite a predicament at this point of the offseason. Odom demanded to leave the team and the Lakers panicked, shipping him to the Dallas Mavericks with a 2012 2nd round draft pick for a future 1st round draft pick. Not very much.
Odom wan’t happy in Dallas, who preferred to to list him as inactive for the remainder of the 2011-2012 season, allowing them to trade him to the Clippers at the end of the season. Odom showed no passion playing for the Mavs, averaging career lows of 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, turning from one of the more versatile big men in the game into a fringe player coming off the bench.
A return to LA, and playing for the Clippers, did bring back some verve into his game, but not much. He played 19.7 minutes a night, bringing rebounding (5.9) and defense, but it seems that he’s lost all confidence on offense, shooting 39.9% from the field, his second consecutive sub-40% season.
Now, he’s a free agent, and the question is how much does he have left in his tank to give. The Lakers could use him – they could use anyone, and Odom is going to come for a lot less than the $8 million he made last season, probably for a veteran’s minimum considering the situation. But Odom might still carry a grudge from nearly two years ago, or finding less and less interest in being an NBA player altogether.