Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 5:54 pm  |  116 responses

The Return of Lamar

L.O. gets his wish, returns to the Lakers.

by Ryne Nelson

Miami has a lot of things going for it: no state taxes, plenty of beaches and nightlife, and an all-NBA teammate in Dwyane Wade. But Lamar Odom is happy with his home in Hollywood.

According to an ESPN.com report, Odom’s will play for the Lakers for at least three more seasons:

Free agent forward Lamar Odom will return to the Los Angeles Lakers, an NBA source said Thursday.

One source close to the process told ESPN.com that Odom will come away with a guaranteed $27 million from the new contract, matching the original value of the three-year, $27 million deal Lakers owner Jerry Buss pulled off the table earlier this month. It’s believed that the structure of the new deal calls for Odom to earn $25 million over the first three seasons, with the Lakers owing him $2 million in the fourth year if they elect not to pick up their team option.

Odom was familiar with the Heat organization after playing 80 regular season games and two strong playoff series in ’03-04. But the prospects of going after consecutive championships and getting the opportunity to play alongside his buddy from Queens, Ron Artest, were more than enough incentive to remain in L.A.

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  • Boston4lyfe

    SCREW L.A.!! BOSTON ALL DAY HATERSSS!!!!!

  • a_whiteman

    Boston needs to add stackhouse asap, I’m glad lamar came back though so now the excuse can’t be oh we didn’t have odom

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    Brad, I think that Lamar thought long and hard about the possibily of starting full time again and having plays called for him. His role on the Lakers will decrease as Bynum’s play gets better. The 30 mins a game are prolly long gone since Phil doesn’t feel comfortable playing him at the 3. In the end, he decided that winning and being in LA (self-called socialite) was more important to him than minutes and money (25 for 3 is cheap).

  • http://slamonline.com Brad Long

    a_whiteman:That’s why I’m happy KG is healthy too.

  • http://slamonline.com Brad Long

    Z:I think your right, but I after watching Lamar for several seasons now, you get the feeling that he needs his ego stroked every now and then, as we all do from time to time. I think that some of the reason the negotiations were prolonged for so long was because Lamar just wanted to remind the front office and the fans how important he is as a piece of this team, even if he isn’t starting. I think he may have felt the Ariza/Artest deal kind of put him on a back burner a little bit.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ Michael NZ: Artest is still playing at an All-Star level. Offensively, he is better than Ariza and defensively, he’s still better, albeit a bit slower.
    I dislike when people say “so and so is not in his prime”, like it means that player still can’t play a superbly high level. People said that sh!t about Kobe, and he won a ring. People who are saying this about Artest, know that he was on fire during stretches of the playoffs.

  • Coast

    Good deal for LA, only 3 years guaranteed. He wasn’t going anywhere though, as long as LA was offering at least the $8-9 million per year.
    But I agree with those that feel that 5 years of Ariza would be better than 5 years of Artest IF the price is the same.
    Who knows if LA offered the full mid-level or more to Ariza and who knows if Ariza turned down the full mid-level from LA.

  • http://slamonline.com Brad Long

    The Lakers will have 3 All-stars in the game next year, 4 is a possablity. Kobe and Pau are shoe ends. Now that Shaq is in Cleveland and Yao is out, if Andrew can stay healthy and just do what he was doing preinjury last year he’ll be starting for the West. I could definitely see Artest making it again as well, although he won’t be starting over Melo.

  • Coast

    I can see him having a slow start to the year. With uncertainty in free agency up until the end of July and a shorter off-season and probably enough celebrating the championship win that he’ll exhaust himself.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    I agree, except Artest owns Melo at defense. And Bynum is pretty overrated.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    You should be happy though, Brad L.

  • randeep

    repeat…three-peat… who knows.. but LA is looking niceeeee right about now

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    Brad… there is no way in HELL that Artest makes the all-star team as a F in the West. The list is STACKED. Bynum, at this point, is not better than Briedrins, Nene and Jefferson (listed as C on the ballot) and STAT (will play C this year). If need be, the coaches can put Duncan there too. 2 all stars.

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    me? at 707? huh

  • jesse rojo

    depth charts:
    pg: 1.Fisher 2.Jordan 3.Brown 4.Sun
    sg: 1.Kobe 2.Sasha
    sf: 1.Ron 2.Luke 3.Morrison
    pf: 1.Pau 2.Lamar 3.Powell
    c: 1.Bynum 2.DJ

  • jesse rojo

    anything wrong with that

  • http://double-technical.blogspot.com Zee!

    If they win back to backs with all of the trades/signings that have gone on, will we still have haters and over critical people on here bashing the Lakers? Seriously, you have to think that Phil and Kobe are looking at all of the goings on in the league and are going to use this to fuel them to another chip. I say odds are 80/20 that they get it, and if Artest can meld into the team concept, those odds increase by the day.

  • Bish1321

    LAKERS HAVE IMPROVED FROM LAST YEAR. Artest is an upgrade from Ariza, at least a short-term upgrade. All the youngsters on the Lakers will improve this off-season too. Look for Bynum, Farmar, and Shannon Brown to increase their stats/production. Sasha might get out of his season-long slump and be productive like he was in 07-08. Kobe will keep doing his thing, of course. The only team that can legitamitely challenge the Lakers is Boston, but if last season’s regular-season games VS them is any indication, then Lakers should prevail. I mean, sure, Bos picked up ‘Sheed and Daniels and deepend their bench, but Lakers have improved dramatically as well. I think Lakers can push for 70 wins next season if they do not have any significant injuries. They could have done that last season, but people forget that some of their losses were literally by one basket. I watched every Lakers game last season and there were 4 or 5 that I can think of that were won either at the buzzer or within 20 seconds left.

    You all can hate all you want, but Kobe is going to end up with 6 rings before he retires and it will solidify his place as AT LEAST a top 5 greatest player ever.

    LAKERS ALL DAY AND YALL HATERS BETTER GET USED TO IT!!!!

  • Chris Ujma

    i know it is devils advocate but I don’t care; imagine if Kobe and the Lake-show had won in 2004 and in 2008….he would be onto his 7th ring :-O

  • Bish1321

    SERIOUSLY! IMAGINE IF THE LAKERS WOULD HAVE WON IN 04 AND 08! KOBE WOULD HAVE HAD THE CHANCE TO GET 8 OR 9 RINGS…

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com DP

    *claps hands with approval* I had a feeling my man LO would get back with the program but I wasn’t sure for a minute. Even on twitter, Dwade was talking about how he landed in LA and how he was going to take him back to the MIA. glad odom got his mind right and I can finally cop my odom jersey without any worries. play wit it.

  • http://www.bbaxn.com Darksaber

    what an attention whore. His twitter post a few hours ago says it all. Top trending topic, eh?

  • john

    yeeeeeessssssss!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    YOu know what the ONLY that got my attention about this articel was….?
    MIAMI HAS NO STATE TAXES. How do you get roads and hospitals?

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    My Lakers are now the front runners for back to back chips. This is the great. KAZAAM!!!!

  • http://slamonline.com Brad Long

    Bynum was third in voting as a center last year. If David West can make the roster in the West, a motivated Ron Artest with the support of one of the world’s biggest fanbases can too.

  • john

    i guess d-wade and pat riley went to L.A. for no reason lol

  • donovan

    If they stay healthy, there’s no reason they shouldn’t flirt with 70-plus wins in the watered-down West.

  • Marco

    Sun Yue is still on the roster?
    I tought that he ended his erasmus and flew back to China

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ Zee!: Artest already has shown he can “meld into the team concept”. Nothing personal, but I dislike when people say “so and so needs to buy into the team concept”… Ron Artest sacrificed a lot of minutes in Houston when T-Mac was still playing. He sacrificed a lot of points, too. In LA now he just took a major pay cut. Ron Artest is NOT a selfish player.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Blinguo

    ^ why are you following his Twitter then Dark? Waiting for news of the return of his head shaved stars? “Lamarbury Hollywood swinging!!!” /end tweet or whatever goes here. Don’t give him your attention.

  • whooo!

    so now that these rosters are set, Lakers are still the clear on favorite. but i expect an EPIC battle with San Antonio in the WCF. Lakers, we konw what to expect, but San An is full of questionmarks with their young players and health. but based on the Spurs track record, i wouldn’t count them out.

  • http://www.lkz.ch Darksaber

    sorry Bling, not following him at all. It got retweeted by one of the other Players i follow. only yellow/purple dude i follow is Fish, c’est tout.

  • whooo!

    Parker/Mason/RJ/Duncan/McDyess vs Fisher/Kobe/Artest/Pau/Bynum.

    bench would be Hill/Manu/Finley/Blair/Mahinmi or Ratliff vs Farmar/Sasha/Walton/Odom/DJ or Powell

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com DP

    all lamar said on his twitter was, “IM BACKKK!!!!” I was talking about Dwade’s twitter. play wit it.

  • whooo!

    and of course there’s always Boston…. Rondo/Allen/Pierce/KG/Perk with a bench of House/whichever SG/Daniels/Baby/Sheed. these 3 teams are DEEP!

  • http://www.lkz.ch Darksaber

    sorry Bling, just re-checked. it was passed on by the one and only Holly Mack herself. So there.

  • RP FROM SURREY

    LA would be sooooooooo deep if they pull off one more trade for either ray felton, a.i or sessions. im pretty sure charlotte, detroit and milwaukee would all accept a package of lets say farmar, sun yue, and mbenga or sasha. 3 for 1. someone make it happen

  • Krishan

    F*ckin finally

  • http://slamonline Negetivekreep

    Im just glad this sh!t is over with…

    ( here’s lookin @ u Brett Farve)

    Has there ever been more Miss-information concerning a free agent? Damn! Imagine how bad it’s gone be when LBJ hits the market?

    Im excited to see what this team is gonna look like doin’ work. Bynum-Gasol-Odom-Artest is sick. And then theres that other guy…

    BTW, with LO staying, the Lakers should have some Chocolate bars made up for the candy man, call it the “Lamar Bar” eh? Fu(k dem nasty ass Tacos!

    With Ariza out of the mix, i think most LA fans will be looking to see what Shannon Brown does, and if he can duplicate some of the things Ariza Was doing.

  • Nawlins Realest.

    uhh do you guys not remember?? KarL Malone got hurt towards the end of the year when he was with the lakers, GP sucked balls badly that playoffs. We shoulda woulda coulda won. stop hating!

  • JL

    I don’t get why people think Artest (other than being a nutcase) is a wash with Ariza. All Ariza has done is have a decent role player playoffs, plus some spectacular steals. All his pct’s are lower than Artest’s, and he can’t guard a Carmelo (painful to see Kobe getting beat up by him). Maybe the nutjob factor evens it up with Ariza?

  • Josh D

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Josh D

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Josh D

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Remo Williams

    …ummm, yes

  • http://kb24.com Bigi

    Thank You Lamar!

  • randeep

    ringsss and more ringsss

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    as nice as the rj addition was, i think mydyess was bigger. finally, timmy has a legit frontcourt partner. as long as guys are healthy, timmy is getting no. 5 in 2010

  • A2

    Umm..Are we all consensually ruling out Orlando from the contenders mix? I mean these guys have arguably made the best upgrades to their Finals roster and yet they aren’t a contender? And for the record I believe it’ll be a Spurs-Orlando final this year, simply because veteran talent and depth almost always win out.

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