KOBE GIVES INDICATION THAT FREE AGENT ODOM WLL RETURN TO LAKERS

It’s been kind of a soap opera summer for the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, at least as it concerns tying up their roster for a run at a title repeat.  First, forward Trevor Ariza bolted for Houston though that wasn’t a major concern.  In fact, they let him go in order to re-sign sixth man Lamar Odom.

That’s become a bit of a mess, with both sides reconsidering their options but on Tuesday Kobe Bryant gave strong indication that he expected Odom to return to the Lakers’ fold.

On a rock-star like tour of Asia, Kobe took time during a press conference in Singapore to talk about the Lakers’ off season personnel moves.  He gave a ringing endorsement of Odom with a not-to-thinly veiled suggestion to the Lakers that they get the deal done in order to keep him happy:

"I'm optimistic that he'll be back. He makes us a much, much stronger team."

He continued to commend his team for signing mercurial forward Ron Artest to reprise the “Dennis Rodman” role from the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty:

"I think Ron's going to be a great addition to us. It's about how well we play together. No matter how much talent you have, it's about how you put those pieces of the puzzle together."

He also shot down suggestions that Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson’s health problems have impacted his team generalship:

"Who said he's coaching less? Phil likes messing with you guys. He'll be there all the time, unless he has a doctor's appointment to get to."

Finally, he responded to speculation of a potential NBA Finals battle against his old teammate Shaquille O’Neal, who’ll play in Cleveland with LeBron James this season:

"Just the hoopla that surrounds it and all the stories that would come out of it. If that match up is to happen, we have to take it one day at a time, we can't get caught up in it being a given that we're going to be in the Finals. We have to take care of our business, but that being said, it would be a heck of a show."

The return of Odom to the Lakers would definitely help facilitate another run to the finals.  The Lakers’ pulled an offer to Odom after he took what they felt was too much time in reaching a decision.  Since then there have been overtures toward a reconciliation including Odom personally calling team owner Jerry Buss to apologize for his role in the situation.  At the same time, both sides have explored their other options.  Odom has been approached by the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks and although they’re not offering as much money as the Lakers the fact that neither Texas nor Florida has a state income tax makes them more intriguing.

Ultimately, most NBA observers expect Odom to be back in the Lakers’ uniform this season.  It may be a case of simple miscommunication, with a frustrated Buss overreacting to the delay and Odom’s representatives possibly ‘overplaying their hand’ by shopping their client around when his primary goal was to get a pay raise to return to the Lakers.   Odom is by his own account very happy in Los Angeles, and has no issue with his ‘sixth man’ role.  For the Lakers, Odom was an essential component to their championship run and offers more versatility than any player on the roster except for Kobe Bryant.  And with his comments, Kobe himself has made clear that he places a high priority on Odom’s return to the lineup and a happy Kobe is a productive Kobe.