If 2010 of the summer of LeBron, then 2009 is the Summer of Lamar Odom.
No, Lamar doesn't have the cache that LeBron has, but he is very important to the Lakers and everyone will have their eyes on what happens with his contract negotiations, as it affects what everyone one else needs to do - get as good as us.
Personally, I think the Lakers get it done. Lamar is practically begging to stay a Laker. As long as the Lakers haven't completely decided against re-signing him or just straight up low ball him, I can;t see the Lakers breaking up this team up. I could be wrong. There is a lot of money invested in Bynum, he has to play, and Ariza should be back for sure. We'll see what happens.
Here are today's links. Starting with the Summer of Lamar:
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Lamar Odom hopes to return to Lakers - NBA - SI.com
"You want to keep the team together," Odom said Thursday. "We just won a championship, you don't want to see one piece not there. Hopefully we can keep everybody here." -
Forum Blue And Gold " The Lakers, The Luxury Tax And You
Now the discussion begins about how we get this feeling again next year. And we can’t start talking seriously about offseason moves until we have a discussion about the Lakers salary and financial situations — specifically the luxury tax. Sure, there is a soft salary cap in the NBA but that is completely irrelevant in the Lakers case — they are already about $10 million over that number. That limits the free agents from other teams the Lakers can sign — they can only use the mid-level exception (which will be about $5.6 million). But don’t expect them to use that. The reason is the Luxury Tax — every dollar the Lakers are over that tax threshold number they pay a dollar in tax. - Odom faces tough choice: Stay or get bigger payday -OCRegister.com
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Lamar Odom hopes to remain with Lakers - Los Angeles Times
Odom will be an unrestricted free agent July 1, one of two forwards the Lakers hope to re-sign to keep their frontcourt intact. -
Odom Gives Fellow Lakers (Crown) Royal Championship Gift - Lake Show Life | A Los Angeles Lakers Blog
To celebrate the Lakers' 15th championship, superstar forward Lamar Odom has arranged for all Lakers' players and coaches to receive a bottle of Crown Royal XR.
(Thanks, Intuitive.)
More after the jump...
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The 2008-2009 L.A. Lakers: Entitled for a reason - Silver Screen and Roll
In the end, they were also right. The Lakers were the best team in the NBA all year long. No matter how many times they lost to Charlotte in the regular season, no matter how many games against cellar dwellers went down to the final seconds, the Lakers were supremely confident in their ability to get it done. There’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance, and the Lakers trounced all over that line. But, much like the Babe calling his shot, their arrogance/confidence proved to be justified. - Phil Jackson's X Hat Helps Charity -- NBA FanHouse
- Vujacic seeking to find calm and regain game this summer - Lakers blog - OCRegister.com
(No more running jumpers and one man full court presses. You earned your contract being a dead-eye set shooter. Go back to it. I respect that you tried to expand your game, but you sucked this year. Simplify.)
Other NBA related Links:
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freedarko.com: Why Is It Gnawing on Arkansas?
But there are few NBA topics as popular as the insinuation that LeBron will sign with the Knicks in 2010. Whomever is traded, or signed, or figuratively told to start looking for a new house, the media will speculate about LeBron. The Knicks took Stephen Curry because he is friendly with James. The Knicks want to trade up for Ricky Rubio because they like his potential alongside James and think that will appeal to LeBron. They took a big man to pair with James. All of this will be said even though there is hardly a preponderance of evidence to suggest that James-to-New York is an actual possibility. So, then, why does everyone keep saying it?For the same reasons that Frank remembers the Trevor Ariza trade and that people pay so much money on Fifth Avenue for things they can buy at home: the Knicks matter more. The Lakers and the Celtics and the Bulls matter. So do the Pistons and the Spurs. But the Knicks matter more. They carry with them New York’s prestige and the soul of the game, two wholly unique qualities. National media, whose satellite and internets arms reach into the corners of Arkansas, recognize this, and so the Knicks remain a story even when they aren't. This may bother people, but it's the truth; if people didn’t care a little more about New York, the Today Show would spend far less time out in Rockefeller Center. LeBron is viewed as the man who can stand up to the New York insanity, if not cure it.Think about all of this and prepare accordingly, because the LeBron gossip is going to stop just as soon as New York stops being old, basketball leaves the City, and he signs anywhere else. Frank will surely keep track of that.
(No way do the Knicks matter more than the Lakers, but I agree with the premise. New York matters. LeBron matters. They could really matter together in a way that rival the Lakers and Kobe. Plus, other than LA, only New York could fit LBJ's ego.) -
Hardwood Paroxysm " Blog Archive " Kevin McHale and the Cult of Reason
Kevin McHale has few equals in his status as an NBA punchline. His track record as an exec is covered with the torn jerseys of players past and soaked in the tears of Wolves fans everywhere. From polaroids of Joe Smith to Dwane Casey’s headstone, the evidence of McHales failures as a manager is overwhelming. Some of McHale’s flubs are understandable, others unforgivable. But all in all, I didn’t quite shed a tear the day he was canned from his management duties. He was given keys to the car he built, a level of accountability that few managers in this league are held to. The Wolves deserve plenty of praise for that, even if they stood ildly by while McHale ruined the franchise’s hopes for the better part of a decade. That’s why I was a bit disappointed with the franchise’s latest move to can McHale, the plague that he was, from his coaching duties. I’m not calling for Kevin to get his job back, or anything close to demanding it. But I certainly wouldn’t have minded. Separating McHale the coach and McHale the executive was apparently too tall a task for the Wolves’ new brass, and if the move was made in the name of wiping the slate clean then I have no objections. That said, I still feel like McHale is getting a bit of a raw deal.
(Tough luck. As much as I crack on KG, Kevin McHale is much to blame for bungling and mismanaging the Wolves. He screwed the Wolves and KG with that Joe Smith fiasco. That hurt.)
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Amar'e Stoudemire Linked to Minnesota -- NBA FanHouse
Amar'e Stoudemire has been linked to more rumors than it's possible to remember, but here's a new one you probably haven't heard before: Marc Spears of the Boston Globe cites an unnamed NBA executive who claims the Suns and Timberwolves are talking about swapping Stoudemire for Al Jefferson and the No. 6 pick. -
Minnesota Nixed Amar'e Deal -- NBA FanHouse
Marc J. Spears of the Boston Globe -- who reported Wednesday that the Suns and Wolves had discussed a deal involving Amar'e Stoudemire, Al Jefferson and Minnesota's No. 6 pick -- writes today that the trade won't move forward. Spears reports that Minnesota turned down Phoenix's offer quickly. - Is Mark Jackson Headed to Minnesota? -- NBA FanHouse
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20 Second Timeout: The Big Diesel is Getting Smaller and Smaller
(As Shaq's career prolongs, he makes Kobe look that much better. He is ruining the one advantage he had over Kobe. The one thing on his side when it came to what people thought of the two. Likability. He's now nothing but an attention hound grandstander that can't stand the fact that no one cares about him anymore. It's sad. I still like Shaq, but he quickly becoming the Spencer/Heidi of the NBA. He'll do anything to stay in the limelight.) -
Shaq may be among those making offseason move - FOX Sports on MSN
Now that we're almost finished crowing about Kobe's ability to reach the NBA mountaintop without a boost from Shaq, it's time to revisit the circumstances that created the four championship rings already worn by Mr. O'Neal. OK, we have three big assists from Mr. Bryant in Los Angeles and one crucial pull on the rope from Dwyane Wade in Miami. Now we're all atwitter over speculation that Shaq could be on his way to Cleveland for a title-seizing excursion with perimeter superstar LeBron James. That allegedly proposed marriage checks in as literally — given the enormity of Shaq's carcass and the 20 million scoots that represent the final year on his current contract — the biggest potential league personnel maneuver we'll be following for the next few weeks. - Cavs’ 2009 Season Provided Reasons for Hope, Reasons for Concern : Cleveland Cavaliers News
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Revisiting the 2003 NBA Draft -- NBA FanHouse
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.Well we are here, perhaps the deepest and most pivotal draft in recent NBA -
Smoke = Fire - CelticsBlog
I don't know anything more than I've reported here already, but I grow more certain by the day that something pretty significant is going to happen. Call it "chatter," call it "rumblings," or call it "smoke." There's a lot of it going on right now and Ainge is right in the thick of things.
(This is not aimed at CelticsBlog, but a Celtics fan I know actually said he wanted Rondo and Ray Allen shipped out for Amar'e. If Celtics fans aren't the worst front-running bandwagoners who bail on their guys at the drop of a hat, then I don't know who are. By the way, I was born, raised, and still live in New England. I know from experience.) -
Does Rondo Have An Attitude Problem? - CelticsBlog
There's a growing sentiment that Rondo has a bit of an attitude problem. Nobody seems to be willing to say that he's a cancer or a jerk. Just that he sometimes rubs people the wrong way. And by people I mean teammates, coaches, and management.
(I wonder where the Bandwagon Billy articles are on Rondo?) -
Busting on Hasheem Thabeet -- NBA FanHouse
As with Ricky Rubio, FanHouse's Matt Moore and Tom Ziller debate the merits of spending a precious high draft pick on Tanzanian center Hasheem Thabeet. The 7'3 tower has been rumored anywhere from No. 2 (Memphis) to No. 6 (Minnesota) in next week's 2009 NBA Draft. Enjoy.
(I'm no fan of Thabeet. I don't think he's any good. He'll end up going to a team that will not be able to develop him. Making him a bust. There are teams who can develop a player, and teams that can't. Any team picking him falls in the latter group.) -
Why Ricky Rubio Should Love the Kings - SportingNews.com - The Baseline
If you only ever watched the Magic in these Finals, and knew nothing of the players involved, you might think there could be a point guard controversy brewing. After all, Alston was that dude on the playoff run, while once Nelson showed up, things went kaput. Reality check: That is just straight-up stupid. Alston can be a solid starter, if a tad inconsistent. While at his best when playing it conservative, he can also occasionally take over games, or at last approximate Nelson's all-important penetration. But there's no contest here. Jameer needs to recover, and then he'll be the player we saw in the first half. -
Revisiting the 2003 NBA Draft -- NBA FanHouse
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.Well we are here, perhaps the deepest and most pivotal draft in recent NBA -
SLAM ONLINE | " The New Top 50
A lot has changed since SLAM first did this in ‘97.
(Which David Friedman promptly "slams" below.) -
20 Second Timeout: Slam Top 50 is a Typically Sloppy Production
Someone who is affiliated with Slam/Slam Online recently emailed me and very cordially asked me to explain why I have made derogatory references to Slam/Slam Online. I responded by citing several specific examples that demonstrate what I call the "amateur hour" quality of a lot of the work being published at both places; this is a theme that I initially explored in December 2007 and although I hoped that editorial staff changes at the magazine and the website would result in improvements that has not been the case.
(David Friedman doing what he does best. Dissing crap.) -
X’s & O’s of Basketball: The 5 Angles of the Ball Screen
(Learn your X's and O's!) -
The Yellow Face, It Burns Us - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com
This is why so many people create NBA Conspiracy theories! -
Where Are They Now? High School Kids Immortalized By Sports Illustrated - WSJ.com
High-schooler Bryce Harper is not the first teen that Sports Illustrated has anointed with a cover. For some young athletes, fame was fleeting.
Audio/Video:
Lakers Championship Parade Pt.1
Please send any Oscar worthy links to wondahbap@aol.com.