A deal was agreed several nights ago that would have sent Odom to the Hornets, Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and Chris Paul to LA. However, it was later dead after David Stern blocked it. Odom expressed his feelings on Twitter later and then showed up 90 minutes late to practice the following day on training camp. Odom said he didn't want to play in a place he was not wanted, and now he is in Dallas.
"Right now, for me, having Odom, Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, we may have the best forward trio in this league right now. And that's exciting," Mavs' head coach Rick Carlisle said. "Lamar Odom is a guy we have great respect for as a person and as an all-around player in this league. We feel he's going to add so many different dimensions for us -- length, playmaking, scoring, experience, championship experience."
With this, now, the Lakers save about $18 million in salary and luxury tax penalties. With this, Los Angeles is now in the pursuit for the Dwight Howard sweepstakes after the star center requested a trade today. Howard's wish list includes the Lakers, along with the Mavericks and Nets. The Chicago Bulls have also reportedly entered into this.
The Nets are prepared to offer several draft picks along with Brook Lopez, while also absorbing Hedo Turkoglu's large contract. As for Los Angeles, they look to offer Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum along with possibly several other pieces maybe from a third team or so. We'll see what happens, but as far as I'm concerned, I think this situation will end up with Howard as a Laker.
Unlike Odom, though, Gasol is not as personal with this situation, saying he thinks it's a business move and that people have to move on.
"I don't think this is personal at all," Gasol said. "This is a business move, I think. The franchise is looking to do its best for the best interest of the franchise and the team. ... I'll just have to be professional. My wish is to stay here. I love being part of this team, this franchise, this city, their fans, everybody. So it's been during this last couple of days to have this uncertainty and insecurity. And probably, it's not over yet.
"I'm just going to be as professional as I can be and do my job and also just do what I love and play basketball and play with a team I like to play with."
