There might be something to the idea that the Lakers are shopping around Lamar Odom. Still, this one seems a little fantastic — and if true surprising.
The Lakers offered Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom for the No. 2 pick, but Minnesota turned it down, according to the Los Angeles Times.The Lakers wanted to use the No. 2 pick to select Arizona’s forward Derrick Williams, the officials said.
However, Minnesota didn’t want Odom, the NBA’s sixth man of the year last season, because the Timberwolves have Kevin Love at power forward and see him as part of the franchise’s cornerstone.
Instead, Minnesota asked the Lakers for either Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol -- two players the Lakers were not going to trade -- for the No. 2 draft pick. Talks broke down and the teams aren’t talking anymore about a deal, the officials said.
What this really signals is that the Lakers are planning to use Lamar Odom as trade bait this summer. The Lakers need a point guard, they need to get more athletic (Derrick Williams would have done that). They don’t have any trade bait outside of their core guys (sorry Lakers fans, Luke Walton is not in demand). The Lakers are not going to move Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum (well, the later two maybe if we are talking Dwight Howard/Chris Paul type of move, but that’s it).
Odom is the best piece of trade bait the Lakers have, and they are willing to move him.
