Demo Sports Daily

When he goes to work, Lamar Odom will once again head to the Staples Center.  No, he won’t being wearing purple and gold; but he is still heading back home.

In fact, he is going back to where it all began.  He is an LA Clipper.  It was the Clippers who he began his NBA career with.  Now it is with the Clippers that he will try to resurrect it.

Lamar Odom has been traded from the Mavericks in a relatively complex four-team deal.  The Clippers Get Odom from Dallas.  Dallas receives the draft rights to forward Tadija Dragicevic from Utah and cash considerations from the Houston Rockets.  The Mavs also create an $8.2 million dollar trade exemption that they can use to be aggressive in free agency.  Utah gets Mo Williams from the Clippers.  Finally, Houston gets the draft rights to second-round pick Furkan Aldemir from the Clippers.

It may sound confusing, but the trade actually make a lot of sense.

The Mavericks want to be aggressive in free agency.  They need the cap room if they are going to pursue big names like Deron Williams and Steve Nash.  The Rockets continue to stockpile their young talent, which seems to be all they have done since the draft.  The Jazz get a talented guard to play along side Devin Harris.  It seems to actually work out for all parties.

The real winners however, are the Clippers.  In this trade, they actually accomplished a lot.  First, they added a talented big man to what has been called the weakest front-court of any playoff team.  They also added a threat to their second unit (Odom is only two seasons removed from being the sixth-man of the year).  The also added another marketable player to help them get closer to the Lakers’ level (thanks reality TV).

The final thing however, is more of addition by subtraction.  Don’t get me wrong, I think Mo Williams is a fine player, but the team was smart to move him.  Now they can bring back Chauncey Billups.  I know he may be 36 and coming off surgery, but re-signing him should still be a no-brainer.  Chris Paul said he is the best player he has ever played with.  Paul even went as far as to go to Denver, serve as an instructor in ”Mr. Big-shot’s” basketball camp  and make a pitch to Billups.  Not only will bringing him back make Paul happy, it will help defensively and provide leadership (something the Clippers could have used a little more of in the playoffs).

I believe Lamar Odom should be able to return to form in LA.  He has had a tremendous amount of success there in the past and has something to prove after last season.  I believe he just was not mentally prepared to play in Dallas and it showed.  He was shocked, angry, depressed, confused, and unfit to be on a court.  Hopefully all of that is behind him, and all parties can start fresh.

I also think he could be valuable at the Olympics for Team USA.  Bosh, Howard and Bynum are all out.  The team needs a big man in the worst way.  Odom excelled at the last World Championships, and could do so again.  He has the skill-set and the experience to be very successful in the international game.  Now more than ever, he also has the desire.

Thinks are starting to look up for Lamar Odom.  Now he should spend less time trying to keep up with a Kardashian, and get back to doing what he loves most: playing basketball.