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Maybe the explanation for the Lakers’ early Christmas gift of Lamar Odom to the Mavericks is as simple as the following:
With one organization, the debate for greatest franchise center is between Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and, if you want to go back to Minneapolis Lakers days, George Mikan.
In other words, the debate is about the NBA’s greatest centers of all time not named Russell.
The other organization debates Tyson Chandler vs. James Donaldson.
Viewed in that context, perhaps the Lakers can only envision future championships with Dwight Howard at center. And so sending a player as valuable and versatile as Odom to Dallas for a draft pick and trade exception that are useful only if they eventually become part of a package for the Orlando center makes sense.
In a Lakers sort of way.
Whatever the reason, the Mavericks rebounded swiftly from the loss of Chandler to the Knicks by landing Odom. They are vastly different players, to be sure, but Odom’s athleticism and superior offensive skills give the Mavericks a greater chance to repeat as champions than they had before the Lakers sent him packing.
“Great feel for the game, great basketball I.Q.,’’ Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of Odom. “Our belief is that he’s going to fit in well with us.’’
Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson’s assessment was even stronger.
“If you would have told me that we would have been able to maintain [salary] cap flexibility and trade Tyson for Lamar, I would have said, ‘When and where?’ And that’s no disrespect to Tyson.’’
Throw in Vince Carter as a replacement for J.J. Barea, and rivals may be asking if some new CBA rule allows the Mavericks to pick up All-Stars for every significant free-agent loss.
But it’s the addition of Odom — and, equally important, the subtraction from his spot in the Lakers rotation — that is the most intriguing off-season move in the new NBA landscape.
In case you missed it, Odom was initially part of a package to New Orleans that would have brought the Lakers point guard Chris Paul. The deal was nixed by NBA commissioner David Stern for “basketball reasons’’ on the basis that the league owns the Hornets.
Awkward for everyone, it brought Odom to tears and caused him to demand a trade.
About 24 hours later, he was a Maverick.
Considering that the Mavericks are, in fact, the team that has the Lakers scrambling to rebuild — overreacting, I would say — how does sending Odom to Dallas make sense for LA?
“When you think about it, that kind of says it all,’’ Odom said in a Mavericks Media Day interview. “I guess they just felt like … to hell with it.’’
It’s a bizarre capitulation by a team that, in my mind, needed to make no concessions and few major changes. The Lakers had won back-to-back titles on the strength of Kobe Bryant and their impossible-to-defend interior game of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Odom.
It was understandable that they didn’t make it three in a row. Few teams do.
But having dealt Odom and now being willing to trade Bynum and perhaps even Gasol to get Howard, the Lakers apparently feel that only the NBA’s No. 1 center can bring them another title.
Of course, there are no guarantees that the Lakers end up with Howard. Equally bizarre is the fact that the Mavericks are one of the teams in which Howard — a free agent in 2012 — has indicated an interest.
Regardless, that flawed philosophy is the Lakers’ problem. The Mavericks will miss Chandler, to be sure, but mostly in ways we cannot calculate. What did he mean to this team in the locker room? How much of the Mavericks’ improved defense was built on Chandler’s refusal to concede the lane to opposing penetrators?
We will begin to get answers very soon in a compressed 66-game regular season.
Odom, who saw the Mavs’ sweep of LA from the other side, doesn’t have memories of an upgraded Dallas defense … only a steady downpour of Maverick 3s.
“Just shooting, yeah’’ he said. “Usually you don’t lose basketball games from the outside. It was just like a barrage.’’
With Odom and Carter on board, this already is a better shooting team than it was a year ago. That, of course, is a guarantee of nothing as Odom — the only one here who knows what it takes to successfully repeat as a champion — is quick to point out.
“If they thought winning the championship was hard, defending it is going to be tougher,’’ Odom said.
Mavericks fans can thank the Lakers for making it just a little easier.
With one organization, the debate for greatest franchise center is between Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and, if you want to go back to Minneapolis Lakers days, George Mikan.
In other words, the debate is about the NBA’s greatest centers of all time not named Russell.
The other organization debates Tyson Chandler vs. James Donaldson.
Viewed in that context, perhaps the Lakers can only envision future championships with Dwight Howard at center. And so sending a player as valuable and versatile as Odom to Dallas for a draft pick and trade exception that are useful only if they eventually become part of a package for the Orlando center makes sense.
In a Lakers sort of way.
Whatever the reason, the Mavericks rebounded swiftly from the loss of Chandler to the Knicks by landing Odom. They are vastly different players, to be sure, but Odom’s athleticism and superior offensive skills give the Mavericks a greater chance to repeat as champions than they had before the Lakers sent him packing.
“Great feel for the game, great basketball I.Q.,’’ Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of Odom. “Our belief is that he’s going to fit in well with us.’’
Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson’s assessment was even stronger.
“If you would have told me that we would have been able to maintain [salary] cap flexibility and trade Tyson for Lamar, I would have said, ‘When and where?’ And that’s no disrespect to Tyson.’’
Throw in Vince Carter as a replacement for J.J. Barea, and rivals may be asking if some new CBA rule allows the Mavericks to pick up All-Stars for every significant free-agent loss.
But it’s the addition of Odom — and, equally important, the subtraction from his spot in the Lakers rotation — that is the most intriguing off-season move in the new NBA landscape.
In case you missed it, Odom was initially part of a package to New Orleans that would have brought the Lakers point guard Chris Paul. The deal was nixed by NBA commissioner David Stern for “basketball reasons’’ on the basis that the league owns the Hornets.
Awkward for everyone, it brought Odom to tears and caused him to demand a trade.
About 24 hours later, he was a Maverick.
Considering that the Mavericks are, in fact, the team that has the Lakers scrambling to rebuild — overreacting, I would say — how does sending Odom to Dallas make sense for LA?
“When you think about it, that kind of says it all,’’ Odom said in a Mavericks Media Day interview. “I guess they just felt like … to hell with it.’’
It’s a bizarre capitulation by a team that, in my mind, needed to make no concessions and few major changes. The Lakers had won back-to-back titles on the strength of Kobe Bryant and their impossible-to-defend interior game of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Odom.
It was understandable that they didn’t make it three in a row. Few teams do.
But having dealt Odom and now being willing to trade Bynum and perhaps even Gasol to get Howard, the Lakers apparently feel that only the NBA’s No. 1 center can bring them another title.
Of course, there are no guarantees that the Lakers end up with Howard. Equally bizarre is the fact that the Mavericks are one of the teams in which Howard — a free agent in 2012 — has indicated an interest.
Regardless, that flawed philosophy is the Lakers’ problem. The Mavericks will miss Chandler, to be sure, but mostly in ways we cannot calculate. What did he mean to this team in the locker room? How much of the Mavericks’ improved defense was built on Chandler’s refusal to concede the lane to opposing penetrators?
We will begin to get answers very soon in a compressed 66-game regular season.
Odom, who saw the Mavs’ sweep of LA from the other side, doesn’t have memories of an upgraded Dallas defense … only a steady downpour of Maverick 3s.
“Just shooting, yeah’’ he said. “Usually you don’t lose basketball games from the outside. It was just like a barrage.’’
With Odom and Carter on board, this already is a better shooting team than it was a year ago. That, of course, is a guarantee of nothing as Odom — the only one here who knows what it takes to successfully repeat as a champion — is quick to point out.
“If they thought winning the championship was hard, defending it is going to be tougher,’’ Odom said.
Mavericks fans can thank the Lakers for making it just a little easier.
