What a turn of events.
Two weeks ago, the Lakers were to be crowned 2008 champions beyond the shadow of a doubt and likely to rule the league for centuries thereafter.
Six rough games later, one of their top threats could be on his way out the door.
As reported by Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times:
[Lamar Odom] will be in the last year of a contract that pays him $14.1 million next season and is essentially a more palatable version of Kwame Brown, an expiring contract who can actually catch an entry pass and fill a stat sheet, though not always consistently.
Odom and Gasol showed high-level cohesion over the last two months of the regular season and through most of the playoffs but were soundly outplayed by the Celtics' frontcourt in the Finals.
Odom said he wanted to "get better this summer individually" and also hoped the Lakers came back with a feistier attitude next season.
Surprising to hear that this talk is starting already, but not surprising to see that another team is getting tired of Odom's inconsistency.
As was the epitomized by his performance in Game 4 of the Finals, Odom is a classic "tale of two players" guy. He's immensely talented -- good size, nice touch, can rebound, beautiful passing vision -- but he also has long been plagued by inconsistency and a tendency to wilt in the biggest of moments. He had the best season of his career this year but was downright miserable at times in the playoffs. Still, as the third man in a frontcourt featuring Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum next year, one would think he's a low-risk asset to the Lakers.
That being said, it couldn't hurt to mention the out-of-leftfield proposal from my buddy Mays yesterday: "Call Sacramento, offer two picks, some pieces and Odom for the psycho."
Not sure if that's happening, but it would certainly give the Lakers a mean streak.