The Credits 7/13/09

Here are today's Lakers Links:

• Re-Signing Lamar Odom Is Not Optional - Silver Screen and Roll
  Why the Lakers should re-sign Lamar Odom, and why Laker fans have a right to care.
• Lamar Odom update and some other quick hits | Lakers Blog | Los Angeles Times
  The O.C. Register's Janis Carr recently yapped with Lakers Assistant General Manager Ronnie Lester about the team's ongoing talks with Lamar Odom. Carr says Lester informed her that LO's offer has been bumped "a little north of $8 million." More or less what people have bandied about as the "magic number," so to speak. Lester also expressed confidence a deal could go down next week.
• SHELBURNE: Wrong time for Odom to go free - LA Daily News
  In this week's edition of "While you were off winning an NBA championship last season," also known as the weekly "How the economic meltdown is affecting professional sports" report, versatile Lakers free agent forward Lamar Odom sits team-less and contract- less on July 12 trying to figure out how to swallow a rather large pay cut after the most successful season of his professional career. Meanwhile, the considerably less-accomplished free agent forward Paul Millsap inks an offer sheet with Portland that will pay him $32 million over the next four seasons. Besides a championship ring, talent-gap and experience, what's the difference between them? Age. Millsap is 24. Odom will 30 later this year.
  (You have to feel for Lamar.  [As much as you can for a millionaire.]  Seeing Paul Millsap get $8 Mill and Varajeo's potentially $10 Mill per deal has got to sting.  They aren't half the player Lamar is.  Wrong time, wrong place for LO.)
• Lakers Win Again, Start 2-0 in Vegas at Lakers.com BasketBlog
  Adam Morrison’s 22 points paced L.A. in its second Summer League win in as many tries as the Lakers defeated Cleveland 88-82 on Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas. A day after scoring 24 points against Toronto, Morrison converted 8-of-16 field goals - including 4-of-6 from downtown - and pitched in four rebounds with three assists against the Cavs.
• Adam Morrison Has Plenty to Prove -- NBA FanHouse
  The last time we saw Adam Morrison, he donned civilian clothes celebrating the Lakers' NBA Finals victory over the Orlando Magic. It was an awkward scene because Morrison had little to do with the title. Moreover, the player who accompanied him to Los Angeles from Charlotte, Shannon Brown, played a significant reserve role while the former No. 3 pick filled the final seat on the bench, left off the playoff roster. With one year left on his rookie deal, Morrison is trying to use 2009-10 to prove he is a capable NBA player, a major question the past few years.

More Lakers and other NBA related links after the Jump.  Click on through...

• Forum Blue And Gold " Breaking down #37
  Can there be yet another post about Ron Artest? Answer: There can never be enough posts about #37! This post will try to find evidence to support some popular hypotheses - some posed by yours truly. Let’s start on defense.
• KRIKORIAN: Lakers GM Kupchak emerges from West's shadow - LA Daily News
  While the general manager of the Lakers, Mitch Kupchak, is working feverishly these tense hours to retain a vital member of his world championship team - Lamar Odom - he admits he hasn't had time for a reflective perspective of the past season's success. While Kupchak now can claim nine title rings on his resume - three as a player - it's indisputable that the latest is the first one as a Lakers executive in which the large shadow of Jerry West hasn't haunted him.
• Lakers' championship DVD available Tuesday - Los Angeles Times
  The Lakers' 2008-09 NBA champions DVD will be released for sale Tuesday after a VIP screening Monday night at the Nokia Theatre at LA Live. Among the players expected to attend are Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar.
• Forum Blue And Gold " Relive The Finals
• YouTube - Trevor Ariza Hugs Kobe at Kobe Basketball Academy 2009
  This video proves that Kobe Bryant & Trevor Ariza are still tight despite Ariza's foolish agent.
  (Thanks,Gils)
• Kobe: 'You ain't dunkin' on me at my camp' - Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
  (From the same KobeCamp2009 YouTube account.)
• Chips aren't down for Jordan Farmar - Los Angeles Times
  So you're the backup point guard for the newly crowned NBA champions. How are you planning to spend your post-title summer? For Jordan Farmar, the answer is: playing golf and poker.
• NBA related links:
• The Perils of Overwhelming Salary Fatigue - SportingNews.com - The Baseline
  What have we heard more about, teams trying to get under the cap and how far they might be by 2010, or the statistically unprecedented season LeBron enjoyed? The former, because superficially it's about something more accessible: getting new players. Once you start down that road, though, it's not long before you find yourself in a labyrinth that even Xerxes could not escape from. Matters of the cap have become so intricate, so involved and so impenetrable that they've become a story in themselves. I'd almost rather someone wake me up when the deals are done, instead of expect me to understand exactly why an infinite number of transactions could come true.
• Where Does Friendliness End and Tampering Begin in NBA Free Agency? - SportingNews.com - The Baseline
• NBA free agency's winners and losers - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
• David Thorpe Livetweeting From Summer League - TrueHoop By Henry Abbott - ESPN
• Paul Millsap signs Portland Trail Blazers' offer sheet for four-year deal - ESPN
  The Portland Trail Blazers have offered Utah Jazz free agent Paul Millsap a four-year contract worth between $32 million and $36 million, according to league sources.
• Is Paul Millsap's Portland Deal Out of Utah's Reach? -- NBA FanHouse
  The question now is whether Portland's offer sheet (signed by Millsap Friday) is big enough to keep Utah from matching. I don't think it is. The ploy (which some have called "brilliant") by the cap experts in Portland was to not only front-load the Millsap offer, but to make a substantial portion of it a "signing bonus," a tool infrequently used in the NBA. John Hollinger of ESPN.com has done the math for us, and reports that the offer sheet is four years for $28 million, plus a $6 million signing bonus.
• The Blazers Want Their Cake and for Jerryd Bayless Not to Eat It -- NBA FanHouse
  n our last episode, we clued you into a potential deal that would send Carlos Boozer to Chicago, Kirk Hinrich to Portland, and Tyrus Thomas to Utah, among other moving pieces. The deal was refuted by several sources, but ESPN's sticking to their guns that the deal is on the table, but has hit a snag. That snag? The Blazers insistence on keeping a phenomenal young player so that they can ... not play him? According to Stein and Ford (the newest cast members of Dragnet), the snag is Jerryd BaylessOn one hand it's good to see that Kevin Pritchard realizes the talent he has on his hands with Bayless. On the other, if newly extended coach Nate McMillan is going to continue to keep him on the bench if he doesn't conform to McMillan's pure point ideal, wouldn't it make more sense to trade him to greener pastures for someone who actually fits that ideal, like Hinrich? It's clear that the Blazers want to upgrade their point guard position, but if Bayless was unable to beat out the pedestrian Steve Blake, shouldn't they use him as an asset to secure that upgrade?
• Miami Heat offer extension to Dwyane Wade, who's in no rush - ESPN
• Heat Should Listen to Wade and Sign A.I. -- NBA FanHouse
  If the Miami Heat really do want to keep Dwyane Wade happy, they had better sign Allen Iverson quickly before he goes to Memphis or Charlotte or some other dead-end destination.
• Suns Make Moves Toward Mediocrity - SportingNews.com - The Baseline
  The Suns dumped Shaq for nothing, may or may not be trying to pawn Amare Stoudemire off on someone, and can't be sure that Nash will be around 2010. Oh, and the West is getting more powerful every day. Thus, they're one of those teams that, in the near future, will either step up and join the new elite, or give up and be cannibalized by more ambitious franchises. Or, they decide to go with mediocrity. From Yahoo!: Grant Hill has decided to re-sign with Phoenix.
• Ciao, Steph? Marbury Exploring Europe Options - SportingNews.com - The Baseline
  The Celtics are saying goodbye to Stephon Marbury, which may leave Marbury saying hello to Europe.
• In Workouts, Knicks’ Curry Shows Flashes of Old Form - NYTimes.com
  Eddy Curry’s workout with the Knicks’ summer-league team was limited and brief, but it was an encouraging marker as he tries to rebound from a lost season.
• Brandon Jennings Saying All the Right Things After Summer League Debut -- NBA FanHouse
  LAS VEGAS -- If you were expecting brashness after Brandon Jennings' NBA debut, you got humility. If you were expecting short, abrupt answers and bitterness, you got anecdotes and smiles.
• Raptors Pursue Jack, Interested in Kleiza -- NBA FanHouse
• SportingNews.com - The Baseline
  After losing out on Jason Kidd, who re-signed with the Mavericks, the Knicks have turned their attention to 76ers point guard Andre Miller.
• Raptors Pursue Jack, Interested in Kleiza -- NBA FanHouse
• Orlando Magic, former Dallas Mavericks forward Brandon Bass agree to contract - ESPN
  The Magic have a agreed to a four-year, $18 million contract with free-agent forward Brandon Bass, a source close to the process told ESPN.com's Chad Ford.

• Cleveland Cavaliers sign former Toronto Raptors guard-forward Anthony Parker - ESPN
  The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed veteran free-agent Anthony Parker to add depth to the backcourt.
  (Boring.  Shaq, Parker and a big contact for Varajeo.  Way to go Danny Ferry!)

• Chicago Bulls sign sharpshooter Jannero Pargo to one-year contract - ESPN
  Free agent guard Jannero Pargo has signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bulls.

• Denver Nuggets deal for Detroit Pistons' Arron Afflalo, Walter Sharpe - ESPN
  The Detroit Pistons traded Arron Afflalo, Walter Sharpe and cash considerations to the Denver Nuggets for a future second-round pick.
  (Nice pick up for the Nuggets.  Afflalo is an improvement over Dahntay Jones, for whom the Pacers wasted money on.)