The Lakers front office said earlier this summer that they’re not sure about what ways Odom can help the team, and the Clippers didn’t exactly jump at the opportunity to re-sign him once his contract expired. Odom has said that he’d like to stay in Los Angeles if possible to stay near his family. For the last month, there hadn’t been any new developments about the future of Odom, but according to Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears, the Clippers hope to bring him back for the next season.
The Los Angeles Clippers hope to soon re-sign Lamar Odom, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Free-agent forward Antawn Jamison was led to believe he would be signing with the Clippers but was told Thursday the Clippers were instead focused on re-signing Odom, a source said.
New Clippers president and coach Doc Rivers has been told Odom had a positive influence in the team’s locker room last season. Former Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro is among those who have spoken positively about Odom to Rivers.
The Clippers have had a great free agency and have improved on what was already a very good basketball team. They also made improvements at the head coaching position choosing not to re-new Del Negro’s contract in favor of bringing in Rivers. The addition of Odom could complete and add to what is already a great roster on paper.
However, Spears also tweeted that the Clippers are waiting on Odom, which could mean that Odom may be waiting on something else — something potentially being the Lakers. While this is just speculation, the Lakers can’t exactly be counted completely out until Odom officially signs with another team, especially if he’s still willing to accept the veteran’s minimum to rejoin the team.