HoopsHype.com Columns

Should L.A. beat the Heat?
by Morris O'Kelly / August 14, 2003

Clippers forward Lamar Odom has signed an offer sheet with the Miami Heat for about $67 million. The deal reportedly includes a sizeable signing bonus. Presently, Odom is a restricted free agent, meaning that any other team can bid for the rights to his services, but with the caveat that the Clippers don’t match that offer within 15 days of a signed acceptance by Odom. The clock is ticking and the Clippers have now two weeks to match it, or say goodbye to Mr. Odom.

As of this writing the Clippers haven’t made any public statement, with the exception of noting that they had received a copy of the signed offer sheet.

The question is, should the Clippers match the offer?

Absolutely, no question. The Clippers must match the offer.

This has nothing to do with the expectations that Odom has yet to meet. This has nothing to do with whether Lamar Odom is beyond his marijuana problems of the past. In fact, this has nothing to do with Donald Sterling and his supposed ‘new leaf’ of trying to keep his marquee players.

This has everything to do with simply not letting Odom go and getting nothing in return. Even Sterling knows that would be bad for business.

One season ago the Clippers traded the very popular Darius Miles for Andre Miller. Miller will be now suiting up for the Denver Nuggets since the Clippers chose not to match the six-year $51 million offer sheet made by the
Nuggets.

That move made it official: They have nothing to show for the departure of Darius Miles. But to let that happen again with arguably the Clippers second-most popular player from the 2001-02 team would be unforgivable. Clipper fans are loyal, but not to a fault. Besides, the Clippers had a plethora of guards -- point, shooting, you name it. Miller had proven to be only of marginal value in a basketball and ticket-selling sense. Odom is different.

We can’t peer into the mind of Donald Sterling and see if this is another move to avoid the salary floor restrictions and not a move to keep this talented team together. For those who don’t know, there is also a minimum amount of money owners must spend on contracts as well as a maximum. Sterling has hovered around that minimum for quite some time. Many have looked upon the matching of the Elton Brand and Corey Maggette deals as just that -- necessities in order to avoid violation of the salary floor.

But we’re talking about Lamar Odom now, and this is a no-brainer. To have Darius Miles and Lamar Odom leave this team with nothing in return just can’t happen. If it does, then Donald Sterling is still the worst owner in professional sports. He is a brilliant businessman and the Clippers cash cow is still a profitable business; but Clipper fans deserve better than a profitable business in which they receive zero share of the revenue. They deserve a basketball team -- in fact, a playoff team.

If you’re wondering where Lamar’s head is in all of this, it’s probably somewhere on South Beach, envisioning fun, sun and practices every now and then with Heat coach Pat Riley. And of course, all of this for $67 million.

“For me to reach my full potential, I believe it might be my time to go," Odom said last week.

Reportedly, Odom had already turned down a three-year, $24 million offer from the Clippers last month.

To be fair, three years, $24 million is a long ways from $67 million -- about 3,000 miles, which is about the distance between Los Angeles and Miami. Of course the first offer is a low-ball offer and you’d have to expect that from most teams, especially the Clippers. On the other hand, if you’re the Clippers you’d have to know that a restricted free agent the likes of Lamar Odom can always get a deal better than three years, $24 million. Odom is a 6-10 man who can play the two, three and four spots consistently and has played the point on occasion.

You don’t find players like that in many places. This day was an eventuality. They may not have known specifically that the high bidder would be the Heat, but they had to know that somebody’s offer sheet with Lamar’s signature would be coming across the fax line.

The Clippers have a dubious history of underachieving, stockpiling lottery picks and them letting them go when it was time to re-sign them. At the same time, that dubious history included not getting top-level coaches, with the
exception of Larry Brown.

With the signing of Mike Dunleavy, eyebrows had to raise in response. Dunleavy had made it known that he was not coming to Los Angeles simply to be in the Lakers shadow or be their junior varsity. He was only coming if there was a commitment from owner Donald Sterling to keep this team competitive. Andre Miller leaving was acceptable to Dunleavy, but Lamar Odom too?

Highly unlikely.

If you’re Mike Dunleavy, how in the world would you be pleased with two starters getting away even before you step on the court? In truth, Miller’s contribution was replaceable, but not Odom’s. The Clippers didn’t make the playoffs last year with a semi-healthy Odom and Miller. The workload was already squarely in Dunleavy’s lap. Unless he’s looking for bigger and bigger challenges, there’s no way Dunleavy wants to part with Odom. Yet and still…these are the Clippers.

One hopes that the Clippers do the right thing and re-sign Lamar Odom. It matters not why -- be it in regards to the salary floor or for Donald Sterling finally making the decision to be competitive in a long-term sense. The Los
Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball franchise. It’s about time they grew up and started acting like one.

Morris O'Kelly is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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