First Jerry Buss pulls a 3 yr/$30 MM or 4 yr/$36 MM contract off the table... then Odom is given a 5 yr/$34 MM deal by Miami, prompting Dwayne Wade to plead to LO to "come back home" (seriously?!). And now finally, the word on the street is that LO has made a call to Jerry Buss, and I'm hoping it's somewhere along the lines of a huge apology for rejecting our earlier offer and begging for it back (although I don't particularly like the mental image of LO begging...if that's what it'll take for Buss to give him back his offer, then so be it). But jeez, this whole fiasco is driving me insane! I constantly have Google Reader open and am refreshing my many Lakers blogs...just waiting for any sort of news.
There's no question that the Lakers absolutely need LO on their roster to have a strong chance of a repeat. He is undoubtedly the soul of the Lakers, and I really think that his contribution on and off the court really brings the team together in a way that none of the players on the current roster can. Plus, everyone knows that his versatility and his freak-of-nature athleticism allows him to 1) cover various positions on the court (I mean seriously, in the beginning of last season there were legitimate discussions about this 6'10" dude playing point guard) and 2) create a HUGE matchup problems for whatever poor soul is guarding him/being guarded by him. In addition, a Laker team sin-Odom would create pressure for 1) Bynum to play better and not continue with his streak of injurues and 2) Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga to play a much bigger role when either Bynum or Gasol are on the bench (kind of okay with Powell, but Mbenga...not so much) and 3) Luke and Morrison to step up when Ron Ron is in priso--er I mean, on the bench (Luke has proven himself at times, but honestly, I wouldn't trust him with even holding my 5 month old imaginary daughter...and well.. Morrison...let's not even go there). Finally, without Odom, the Lakers have absolutely no chance at picking up any other decent free agent, especially in this current market (I guess except for picking up Chris Mihm again...but let's hope it doesn't resort to that)
So yeah, I am kinda freaking out about this, but for a legitimate reason. I think the strength of our team and our chances of a repeat totally hinge on what's going to happen in the next few days. *crosses fingers*!!
yeah...we want Odom with the Lakers
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