Lamar Odom: Out of the Frying Pan, and Into the Heat
The LA Clippers have decided not to match Lamar Odom's $67 million dollar offer sheet from the Miami Heat. You knew this was going to happen. Cheapskate Lunatic Clipper owner Donald Sterling had already committed $124 million to Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, and Odom had serious baggage, baggage bigger than the ones you'll find under John Chaney's eyes.
(Although, not Kobe-sized baggage, referring of course to the size of Kobe's legal troubles, and not the size of Kobe's other...baggage, as it were. I'm looking forward to the day when Kobe resumes his role of public celebrity endorsements, so we can all pull through the McDonald's window and ask them to "Kobe-size it".)
Odom's baggage is slightly more pedestrian and confounding. Multiple positive dope tests. Some injury troubles. And now, the Clippers referring to "character" issues. Well, what else were they going to say? I suspect the biggest part of his character they weren't willing to live with was that he was going to be a character that was going to cost them another $67 million.
Odom oozes talent. The guy is a joy to watch, very smooth with the ball, very unselfish on the court. He can score, he can board, he can pass, he can defend, and he has size. Odom is a lot like Kevin Garnett. He can be the focal point of a team if he needs to be, but he can also make the players around him better. Guys like that are rare, and if you can surround them with talent, they can really take you places. If they aren't suspended or injured, of course.
And Miami does suddenly have some talent. Sure, Caron Butler and Dwayne Wade are young, but guys grow up fast in this league. The Heat don't have enough talent up and down the roster to be a playoff team, even in the weak-ass East, but they are getting very close.
The wild card in all of this is Pat Riley. The days of Riley being considered a genius coach have passed, though that has more to do with a decline in playing talent than anything Riley does on the court. Riley is still a notoriously hard-boiled coach whose practices are legendarily tough. Odom says he has had a lifelong dream of playing for Riley.
We'll see. I'm not ready to give up on Riley yet, and I'm a big believer in Wade, Butler and Odom. If he isn't suspended or injured, of course.
At the very least, there will be something fun to watch in Miami this year. The fans there are notoriously somnombulant towards the team, preferring to bask in the sun and sand and nightlife instead. If Lamar Odom can avoid those same temptations, and stay on the court, there could be a new force in the East in the next couple of years, and Pat Riley might return to relevance again.
10:00:45 AM 
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