Archive for July, 2009

Fan favorite Sun Yue has been let go by the Lakers in an effort to ease the strain on payroll for the upcoming season.  Because the team is well over the luxury tax threshold, waiving him will provide 2-for-1 relief for his ~$750k and ultimately save the team $1.5m. Sun played only 28 minutes and scored only 6 points last season.  He spent a portion playing for the Lakers D-League team as well.  A 2007 second round pick, Sun was on the roster when the Lakers won the championship last year although he did not see any playing time in [...]

J.A. Adande and Mark Stein are reporting that the Lakers and Lamar Odom have agreed to terms on a new deal. Odom will sign a four-year contract, with the fourth year at the team option, the source said. One source with knowledge of the talks told ESPN.com the four-year deal is worth $33 million if the Lakers exercise the final year of the contract. Thus, the worst the worst negotiating I’ve seen since the guy that Chris Sabian replaced has come to an end. Odom turned down a return to South Beach for less money to play with childhood friend [...]

According to our good friends over the at L.A. Times, the Lamar Odom situation is not going to affect the betting odds for another Laker run at the championship. “We didn’t change anything when they got Artest, and if they lose Odom it’ll just be a wash,” said Jay Kornegay, executive director of the Las Vegas Hilton’s Race and Sports book, which has the Lakers as the 2-1 favorite over the 3-1 Cavaliers and 5-1 Celtics. [Full article] At MGM/Mirage, the Lake Show are 8-5 favorites to win with the Celtics second at 3-1 and the Cavs third at 4-1. [...]

1. Odom enters negotiations with the Lakers.  Odom is reportedly seeking $10m/year while the Lakers are seeking a deal closer to $7m/year. 2. Kobe is asked if Lamar is returning to the world champion Lakers.  “I hope so.  He better be,” Bryant replied.  Portland Trailblazers are reported to have “lukewarm interest” in Odom. 3. Lakers reportedly up their offer to $8m/year. 4. With negotiations seemingly stalled, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak is quoted as saying he remains “hopeful” that a deal can be reached. 5. Lakers owner Dr. Buss pulls the current offers off the table.  Numerous reports cite him as [...]

Lamar Odom is keeping us waiting.  While we wait, we can look at some of the other things going on around the world like this new tank top with our favorite Laker fan on it.  Now the only question becomes: would you wear it? Reading the comments on this article makes you think that any non-Laker fan or non-Los Angelino would hate it (did I really just use the term “Los Angelino”?).  Then again, isn’t that the point? When I read it out loud, I say “I Jack LA”.  Kind of misses the point, I think.  Ah well.

The pendulum that is Lamar Odom has swung from one coast to the other. According to Adrian Wojnarowski and his “sources“, the free agent forward is “leaning toward signing with Miami.”  “It’s close, but it’s not done,” said one source. From a “rumor” of Lamar’s return to “sources” saying he’s packing for South Beach, the Odom story has the symptoms of a Favre virus in its early stages. The next sign of the infection would be a headline with the word “report” in it. At that point it might be time to call in Ed Werder for 24 Hour Odom Watch. Apparently [...]

According to Wojo over at Yahoo! Sports (via Red’s Army), Lamar Odom is leaning towards rejecting the Lakers’ latest offer and rejoining the Heat. If this is true, then screw L.O. If he wants to stick it to Jerry Buss to his own detriment, fine. The Lakers will be alright with or without you, Candy Man. You cannot say the same. Lamar, in my opinion there is no way in hell you’re going to win a championship in Miami. Aerosmith had a song, what was it called? I remember now — “Dream On.” Put it in your stereo and rock [...]

After this report from the L.A. Times surfaced (via My Sports Rumors), I have no choice but to chalk up the rumor we reported yesterday as just that — a rumor. Hey, these things happen sometimes. Even well-connected sources, which this one was, get fed misinformation now and then. Since the scoop apparently came from Lamar Odom’s camp, maybe they were just trying to boost up the Lakers’ offfer. You know what they say, “all is fair in love, war and contract negotiations.” There’s also a Shelden Williams rumor… It didn’t look great last week for Odom’s return to the [...]

This is an awesome video clip of the 2009 Laker Girl tryouts compliments of LAist (via Hoop Doctors). The highlights? The Laker Girl hopefuls saying they could out-hoop the Clips, and all those chicks chowing down on the Carl’s Jr. Heart Attack Burger.

Update: No new news on this, and even some conflicting reports, which is why I classified it as a rumor. We’ll keep you posted. As of right now we still have to classify this as a strong rumor, but our friends over at Black Sports Online are reporting that Lamar Odom will re-sign with the Lakers very soon. Sources close to Lamar Odom have told BSO that Odom will resign with the Lakers. Odom will sign a 4 year 40 million dollar contract to stay with the champs. The change of heart came after Lamar reached out to Dr. Jerry [...]