If you’ve been paying any attention to sports news lately, you know that the Lakers’ frontcourt will look quite different next season.
Obviously, the biggest difference will be at center, where Pau Gasol will likely start and Chris Kaman will play a reserve role; as opposed to a frontcourt which boasted Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol prior.
Another change will be the departure of Earl Clark, who played a significant role for the Lakers starting mid-season last year, as well as Antawn Jamison, who likely won’t return to the Lakers.
Although the backcourt depth was suspect last season, the talent and depth in the front court was quite impressive when you add Jordan Hill to the mix.
Now, the Lakers have the challenge of trying to once again establish what has been their biggest advantage over most teams since 2008–their size.
My biggest concern about free agency initially was the need to shore up depth in the back court to ensure that Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash have adequate rest during the season (and enough scoring and defense at the start of the season to help offset Bryant’s recovery from a torn Achilles).
With Dwight Howard gone, though, the Lakers need to add depth all around to compensate.
As mentioned earlier, the Lakers added Chris Kaman to the mix and still have Jordan Hill, but have also reportedly shown interest in Lamar Odom, which in my view, could be a solid pickup.
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Obviously, at age 34, Odom is likely not the same player he was a few years ago when he helped the Lakers win two championships or garnered the Sixth Man Of The Year award in 2011.
However, he could still be a sensible pickup for the Lakers.
For one, the Lakers are extremely limited after still being above the salary cap even without the re-signing of Dwight Howard, and just used their mini-midlevel exception on Kaman.
Now all they have are veterans’ minimum contracts to throw out.
Last season, the Lakers were able to lure Antawn Jamison into taking that veterans’ contract in hopes of winning a championship.
This upcoming season, however, won’t have that same lure following a lackluster season and the departure of the Lakers’ hopeful future center.
At the same time, Odom is coming off of a season in which he averaged just 4.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in under 20 minutes per game with the Clippers.
With the Clippers unlikely to offer him a large contract coupled with the fact that we all know how much Lamar loves living in L.A., bringing the versatile forward back into a purple and gold uniform could very well be feasible–and fruitful for both the Lakers and Lamar.
There’s no question that L.O. had his best seasons as a Laker, and winning two championships will undoubtedly be the highlight of his career, so maybe he will let bygones be bygones when it comes to the Lakers’ front office and once again suit up for the Lakers.
Next up is how it could work for the Lakers.
Next Page: How It Could Work