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Odom for Artest? By Christopher Sells
07.10.2008 - Updated on 07.10.2008
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There’s a rumor floating around out on the West Coast that the Lakers have contacted the Kings about a possible trade. The trade could involve Lamar Odom relocating to Sacramento while Ron Artest and Kenny Thomas head south to Los Angeles.
Please let this happen.
I want this to go through for my own selfish reasons, but it actually makes sense for both teams. Sacramento would get a player who is multi-skilled, but probably needs the ball in his hands more than he does in Los Angeles. The Lakers would get one of the league’s premier defensive talents in Artest and add some toughness that the team appears to lack.
There are drawbacks for each side, of course. Odom seems to disappear when it matters, while Artest is certifiably crazy and Thomas is probably as overpaid as they come.
But imagine the possibilities. Odom could allow Sacramento to institute a more free flowing offense with his passing skills and ball-handling ability. With an inexperienced Beno Udrih running the show for the Kings, how valuable could a forward who can rebound, push the ball up and hit the open man be? And how great would it be to not have Artest’s ballstopping and general unhappiness out of the locker room and Thomas’ contract off the books?
Artest could check the opposing team’s best perimeter player and not allow them to go nuts in the Finals. He’s even strong enough to log some minutes at the four, if the Lakers want to go small. The triangle offense (and the amount of time that Kobe Bryant spends with the ball in his hands) would minimize his tendency to hold on to the ball for too long. He’s definitely not going to let any oncourt adversity push him towards disappearance. And Phil Jackson has plenty of experience coaching the mentally insane. And, if it doesn’t work out, Artest only has one year left on his contract, meaning you can get rid of him pretty quickly.
I don’t see any reason this shouldn’t go down. Make it happen. Yeah, you’re in the same division and you’d have to face the player(s) you just traded four times a year and maybe more if you meet in the playoffs. But what other choices do you have? Odom will probably not fit too well with Pau Gasol and a presumably healthy Andrew Bynum in the frontcourt. Artest just finished talking about how upset he was about not exercising his opt-out clause a week ago. Clearly, a change of scenery would benefit both players and both teams.
[image:http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaguelyartistic] |
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Posted by
on 07.11.2008 | second post on 7.10I wrote:Think about Lamars rebounds when Gasol came aboard. Have you followed the Lakers? If you have then you’d realize that when Gasol came onboard, Lamar benefitted! So who said Lamar isnt a good fit, I don’t get it. . | Posted by
on 07.11.2008 | Butterbuns ur so dumb freakin hater . | Posted by
Butterbuns
on 07.11.2008 | Get the hell outta here!!!!!!!!! Good for both teams. your sick in the head. Why don’t the kings just give you kevin martin for jordan farmar as well. Stupid laker fans. . | Posted by
LakerMike
on 07.11.2008 | I tend to believe this would be a good trade, we just witnessed in the Finals what this particular Laker squad (minus a healthy Bynum who woulda been a big factor probably) could do. However we have to remember that the Lakers would have been tied 2-2 making this a whole new series had they not blown that 24 pt (I STILL can’t believe that?!) lead. The Gasol / Odom tandem showed that they can play together and I’m sure that Odom will have no problem moving down to SF (& #4 option) since his game is so versatile. I think PJ was outcoached and he should have rested Gasol out because he was clearly wearing down during the playoffs. Bynum would have made the difference, but he wasn’t there and Phil overworked Gasol.Back to the trade though, I agree that PJ has proven to be a good handler of bizarre players and Artest would thrive as a #2,3 or 4 option. He loves Kobe (as he said when interviewing Kobe on BDSSP) and would absolutely love getting traded to the Lakers. I would hate to lose Lamar who is such a big facilitator in the triangle and who’s personality fits real well as 3rd or 4th option. He is versatile and long, a Bynum-Gasol-Odom front court would be lots of fun to watch. However we just witnessed how important defense is and how lacking the Lakers are at ’D’ these last finals, so as hard as it would be to see Odom go, I’d probably make the trade... . | Posted by
on 07.11.2008 | its a good trade cuz lamar odom is inconsistent at times . | Posted by
dc
on 07.10.2008 | lakers need artest asap.... they are gonna lose ronnie witch is bad so they need tuff asap! . | Posted by
yquiocho
on 07.10.2008 | it has long been said that the Lakers are soft...they really are with the way the Celtics manhandled them in the finals...with the return of Andrew, a lot of times will be spent by LO, PG and AB contesting rebounds...the Lakers need some defensive and experienced players that can provide for defensive and rebounding needs...LO could be even traded for Josh Smith, a tenacious player with some semblance of a defensive presence...the remaining money could be used for a theo ratliff or darius miles-like type of player... . | Posted by
on 07.10.2008 | how can you say odom isn’t a good fit with them with pau gasol. If you watched there games since the pau trade, odom has been shining as the 3rd option, it seems this is how he likes playing, not being the go to guy, in this case, not being the 2nd go to guy either. Plus odom provides them with rebounding, of which they already lack, and adding artest would totally mess up them team, even with bynum back for the rebounding. . | Posted by
on 07.10.2008 | not sure if Artest’s defense is going to make up for what Lamar could bring with a strong legitimate center. Think about Lamars rebounds when Gasol came aboard. They did breakdown in the finals by a tougher team true, but I believe it was a combination of things, 1 of them being Boston’s experience. People talk how the Gasol trade was a steal, what those people forget is that Boston also recieved a bargain, Allen and Garnett. PIerce without them wouldnt have received the Finals MVP trophy or the huge contract he got. . |
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