Los Angeles Lakers fans should not expect Deron Williams and Lamar Odom in Purple and Gold – NBA Feature
As the Los Angeles Lakers look towards the next season, they know they need to build a new team and add some firepower to their arsenal if they want to win another championship.
The Kobe Bryant – Pau Gasol duo did them back to back NBA championships late in the last decade, but Gasol’s performance in this year’s playoffs preceded by the trade that had him almost going to Houston Rockets has made his chances
of being a Lakers for an extended period very unlikely.
The Lakers picked up their option on Andrew Bynum earlier this week, signalling that they are going with the younger of the two big men, since it is not in their favour to go one more season with both of them.
There have been rumours that the Lakers will be looking to increase their roster and might even trade Pau Gasol. And many Lakers fans have been fantasising about the possibility of New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams landing
in Los Angeles. To add to that, many people are also expecting Lamar Odom to return to the Lakers.
As far as Deron Williams is concerned, it seems quite unlikely that he will sign for the Lakers. The Lakers have only $3 million in mini mid level exception to offer, if they want to sign a new player. And Williams, the biggest
prize on the free agent market this summer, will surely not sign for $3 million.
“I know they don’t have any money to just go out and sign me. It’ll have to be some kind of [trade],” said Williams at the E3 Expo on Wednesday.
And as far as a trade is concerned, the Lakers can trade Gasol to the Nets but the latter would rather keep Deron Williams and try to sign Dwight Howard to the franchise. Plus, Gasol is not in his prime anymore and the Nets, looking
to build a strong championship calibre team for the long run, will have no place for Gasol on their team. They would rather prefer a younger player who has his best years ahead of him and can contribute to the team on a long term basis.
And given that the Dallas Mavericks are going all out in an attempt to get Williams to return to his home town, the one guard will probably have to choose between playing under the shadows of Kobe Bryant for another few years,
or teaming up with Dirk Nowitzki.
Now comes the case of Lamar Odom. The NBA has a rule that does not allow players traded by their teams to return to the original team before one full year. This rule was added in the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in December
last year.
This means that Odom cannot return to the Lakers till December this year, even if both parties agree to some kind of deal. That is three months into the season. Odom will be free to sign to any team once Dallas either buys out
his contract for $2.4 million, or trades him to a team that buys his contract out. However, he cannot sign to Lakers before December.
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