Wednesday, July 1st, 2009...6:40 am
Laughable Rumor
I just checked my morning mail. This morning’s scuttlebutt surrounds this quote from the L.A. Times, which has a few of you all hot and bothered:
San Antonio and Phoenix are interested in trying to sign Odom. Both teams are trying to clear salary-cap space to see if they can get a deal done with Odom, who is looking for at least a four-year deal worth an average of $10 million a year.
Quick cap lesson: the Spurs only have exception money to play with, which is a little more than half of 10 million. To get under the cap, they’d need to clear about 15 million from their books. Is that possible? Sure, if they move half their roster or one of their best players for trade exception(s). As the title says, this one is a gasser.
The Spurs’ only shot at Odom comes if he has a negotiations fall out with L.A. and inclines toward the MLE elsewhere.
The only team that will pay Odom 10 million a season is L.A., and I seriously doubt they’d go that high. If he can squeeze 7.5 million out of Buss, he will have done well for himself.
Update: For a more responsible look at the Spurs’ cap situation, check out this post from AusTechSpur.
12 Comments
July 1st, 2009 at 7:12 am
I like Odom. I think he is vastly overrated, specially by LA fans and I think he is better than what he did with the Lakers. However, like you said, it would take too much work and players to get him here to even considering him as an option UNLESS he comes for the MLE or veteran minimum after a trade, but I doubt that would happen. Also, playing for the Spurs he would have to come off the bench to be productive, because he would be a fourth or fifth option if he starts and that diminishes his production a lot plus he wouldn’t be that happy.
July 1st, 2009 at 7:14 am
Juan,
I think Odom could start at PF. He doesn’t need the ball, which is one reason he is so attractive.
July 1st, 2009 at 7:18 am
Oops, at the start of my last comment I meant underrated. Sorry.
July 1st, 2009 at 7:23 am
Tim, I always felt the contrary. I have this image of Odom being the 2nd/3rd option on a very good team or the go-to guy on a bad one, being more productive on the latter even when that doesn’t necessarily translate into team success.
If we happen to get him, I hope I’m wrong.
July 1st, 2009 at 7:25 am
I love free agency, can this thread be set aside for fans to START laughable free-agency rumors, perhaps if nothing else designed out of wishful thinking…
Hey have you guys heard that NY is trying to lure Kidd out of Dallas? If they do, players like Eddy Curry or David Lee may be available.
Also, what if the spurs used their LLE on Grant Hill for a 1 to 2 year championship run to add some depth and experience to the end of our bench? He’s gonna want outta that collapsing situation in Phoenix, he’s gotta care more about winning than money at this point, and I know the Spurs were interested before he went to the Suns.
If not Hill, we could also try to get Bruce back… According to Marc Stein, the Bucks are going to try and use Bruce’s contract as trade fodder until his Aug 1st deadline where Bruce must either be bought out or extended through next year… either way it sounds like he’ll be bought out either by the Bucks or by whoever he gets traded to before the end of the month and will be available to resign here (or anywhere else, like Orlando if you believe Stein). Anyway, here’s the link http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=Chatter-090701
July 1st, 2009 at 9:28 am
I not sure why you are making so much buzz about Odom. There’s no way he leaves the Lakers a year after they win the title to come to the Spurs. We can’t pay him more money than the Lakers (especially considering they have an extra 6 million or so after selling their draft pick), and the Lakers are still the team to beat in the west.
The whole reason LA sold their draft pick was so they can hold onto both Odom and Ariza. Odom is vital to the Lakers because he’s their only one who can fill the gap if and when Bynum gets injured again. Shannon Brown looks like he’ll be vulnerable, though.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:41 am
Mori,
I’ve said that if Odom is available for the MLE then the Spurs should/will make a run at him, but that he’s an impossibility otherwise. The Lakers have his Bird Rights, but I’m not sure where you get that 6 million number from. They sold their draft pick true, but it wasn’t worth 6 million. They’re over the cap just like the Spurs. That draft pick meant almost nothing to them. It’s practically insignificant. The main reason they sold it was because they don’t have any roster space for a rookie.
Shannon Brown is not a bad player. Good thought. But we don’t really have a roster spot for him, or a need.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:10 am
Tim,
Here’s a link to the LA Times article that states they saved 6.2 million.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers-nba-draft26-2009jun26,0,4528978.story
Selling 2 picks= 4.5 mil
Not paying the guaranteed 1st rounder salary= 1.7
So unless Detroit or Portland (two teams with some money to throw around that Odom might not mind playing for), offers him a big deal, I don’t see the market being beyond what Buss can afford to pay in taxes. Besides, Detroit sounds like they’re making a push for Villanueva and Gordon and Portland is making a strong push for Hedo. Factor in his 9+ years of living in LA and all signs point to Odom (and Ariza, too) staying with the Lakers.
LA will probably be up around 90 million this year with a 13 man roster.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:25 am
Mori1040,
Thank for the link. I see how you came to 6 million. The article is a little misleading. For example, the 1.7 in guaranteed salary that would be due to pick #29 is actually 835, 000. The other 835, 000 is tax on top of the contract. But of course that does total to 1.7. The money they got for the picks-they made out, by the way-doesn’t go into the cap, but could be used to offset the tax loss. That’s a nice haul, but only enough to offset the tax loss either Odom or Ariza. The rest is going to hurt. If they give them both a 10 dollar contract, then they’re looking at a 40 million dollar bill. Makes that 1.7 look small.
Ultimately, I’d bet the Lakers let either Odom or Ariza go.
July 1st, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Just saw this on ESPN and found the link. So can we count Odom out (as far as our speculation goes) seeing as LA has chosen him over Ariza?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4301414
July 1st, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Lamar Odom is the type of player that has to coast for at least two years every time he gets a new contract.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Tim,
Thanks for the clarification on the salary and cap issues. You guys run an exemplary operation here at 48minutes, and I can say that this has definitely been the most intriguing offseason, thanks in no small part to all the great posts so far.
A loss of either player hurts the Lakers, so for our sake, I hope you’re right!
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