Will the Lakers Be Hurting Without Lamar?

While some are worrying about a Lakers team sans Lamar Odom, Paul Peszko for the L.A. Times isn’t one of them. Says Peszko, “All the pundits and fans are wringing out their crying towels. Oh, what a tragedy if the Lakers lose Lamar Odom. What a terrible deal it amounts to! Odom and Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest. ‘It’s just not worth it,’ they cry. You lose two and get only one in return. But that one player that you get is worth the other two. Why? Because he WANTS to be a Laker. And he doesn’t care about the money. The other two just wanted their egos stroked.” Wow, Peszko, tell us how you really feel!

Lakers owner Jerry Buss let Ariza go in place for Artest and pulled the offer to Odom, who Peszko says “showed his appreciation by actually considering offers from other teams worth far less money.” Peszko also points out, if Odom signs with Miami, the Heat may still only be the fourth or fifth best team in the East and won’t likely make it past Orlando, Boston or Cleveland to pass through more that one round of the playoffs. Without Odom, the Lakers will still be the reigning team in the West. They still have Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol, after all, and Andrew Bynum is likely to come back stronger this season. Oh, and Ron Artest shows some of the same strengths as Odom and Ariza.

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