Getty Images There might be something to the idea that the Lakers are shopping around Lamar Odom. Still, this one seems a little fantastic — and if true surprising.
The Lakers offered Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom for the No. 2 pick, but Minnesota turned it down, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Lakers wanted to use the No. 2 pick to select Arizona’s forward Derrick Williams, the officials said.
However, Minnesota didn’t want Odom, the NBA’s sixth man of the year last season, because the Timberwolves have Kevin Love at power forward and see him as part of the franchise’s cornerstone.
Instead, Minnesota asked the Lakers for either Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol — two players the Lakers were not going to trade — for the No. 2 draft pick. Talks broke down and the teams aren’t talking anymore about a deal, the officials said.
What this really signals is that the Lakers are planning to use Lamar Odom as trade bait this summer. The Lakers need a point guard, they need to get more athletic (Derrick Williams would have done that). They don’t have any trade bait outside of their core guys (sorry Lakers fans, Luke Walton is not in demand). The Lakers are not going to move Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum (well, the later two maybe if we are talking Dwight Howard/Chris Paul type of move, but that’s it).
Odom is the best piece of trade bait the Lakers have, and they are willing to move him.
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Reuters
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AP
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AP
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Reuters
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Reuters
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Jeff Van Gundy is sticking up for his brother, Stan, who got fired because Dwight Howard didn’t like him. Sure, both the Magic and Howard deny that, but does anybody believe them? Jeff Van Gundy doesn’t. And the current ABC color analyst got on a roll ripping the Magic CEO Alex Martins and how they…
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Here is our daily look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points. • Dwyane Wade wore pink pants to the game on Friday. Yea… not working…
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AP
If you need surgery, and there is a four-month recovery you need to get through, you don’t put it off. Boston guard Avery Bradley is to undergo surgery Friday to repair his injured left shoulder, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. That has been confirmed by Doc Rivers. So no, he’s probably not available…
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Reuters
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AP
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Reuters
The Knicks J.R. Smith was arrested in South Beach when the car in which he was a passenger was pulled over by officers and they discovered an outstanding bench warrant for not having a valid driver’s license. There are not a lot of details, but according to the Associated Press Smith was in a car…
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I’ll admit that the thought of 70-year-old Jerry Sloan’s old-school ways coaching a young Bobcats roster strikes me as a poor fit. I’ll admit that to see Sloan wanting back in the game so bad that he’s not picky about the job he’ll take is a little sad. But Sloan, the long time Utah Jazz…
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Reuters
It was the Dwyane Wade show Thursday night. He was knocking down jump shots, which opened up his driving lanes to the rim. He had 41 points and pushed the Heat to a win and into the next round. It was a virtuoso performance and there was nothing the Pacers could do about it (especially…
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SEASON RECORDS San Antonio 50-16 (1 seed) Oklahoma City 47-19 (2 seed) SEASON SERIES San Antonio took the season series 2-1, however Manu Ginobili missed all of them (which might worry Thunder fans), the games were in March and earlier, bottom line these teams are different now. OFFENSE/DEFENSE RANKINGS (points per 100 possession) San Antonio:…
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Reuters
After the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs, Lakers fans took to the Internet like locust trying to find a way to trade Pau Gasol and make their team better. About the same time came word that Deron Williams had the Lakers on his list of teams he would consider. So, a Gasol or Deron…
