Report: Knicks on Odom’s short list

No one knows where Lamar Odom will be playing basketball next season. After a tumultuous season with the Dallas Mavericks he’ll more than likely wind up as a free agent since I don’t think Odom could be traded for a bobsled at this particular moment. Odom is still under contract with the Mavericks and he could be traded or waived/bought out.

Despite his one bad season with the Mavericks, Odom will be a highly sought after free agent due to the versatility he can bring to the table. A source close to the situation says that the New York Knicks might be a team on Odom’s short list.

A source with knowledge of Odom’s thinking says the New York Knicks would be “on the top of his list” if the Queens native becomes a free agent.


“Lamar is big on being comfortable,” the source said. “And New York is somewhere he can be comfortable.”


“He wants to find a place where he can end his career, and New York is ideal,” the source said. “He’s won championships in the past and he wants to win another. And to do it there would be great.”


He could go back to the Los Angeles Lakers where he had his best years or to the Miami Heat where he once played and could be sixth man supreme. I don’t see him fitting in with the Knicks since all they do is acquire name players and implode. But a front line of  Odom, Amare Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler could be pretty good if Carmelo Anthony wants to shift to the two guard spot. So it’s highly unlikely he’ll wind up in New York.

Wherever he lands they’ll probably get the Odom of years past and not the Dallas version which was a bad bill of goods.
 

Terry says teams want to play the Mavericks in the playoffs

Remember last season when Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl said that he hoped that his team would face the Dallas Mavericks when the playoffs started. Of course he was wrong because the Mavs went on a roll and wound up toppling the Miami Heat for the NBA championship.  

The Mavericks have struggled in the shortened season and finally clinched a playoff berth, but they still remain dangerous. Mavericks guard Jason Terry thinks teams are feasting their eyes on the Mavericks as a possible playoff opponent, but issues a warning to those that think the Mavericks will be cannon fodder when the playoffs begin.

“We haven’t gotten much respect all year long,” Jason Terry said. “It doesn’t surprise me. I think a lot of teams are hoping and wishing they can play the Mavericks, similar to last year _ and they get what they ask for sometimes.”


Translation: Teams are overlooking us and think they’re getting a weak opponent. Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Remember we’re still the champions.

Teams still should be wary of the Mavericks, especially if Dirk Nowitzki gets hot and the rest of the team follows suit. When the Mavericks get rolling they’re hard to beat.

 

  

Jason Terry says he could be an asset to the Heat

Going to Miami seems to be the popular thing to do for many nowdays. Ever since the Heat landed the big three, many prospective veteran free agents have put the Heat on their personal radar.

Earlier this week it was reported that Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash said he wouldn’t mind joining the Heat next season if the Suns can’t make him a suitable offer. Add Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry to the ever growing list of veterans trying to latch on with the Heat.

“Miami is definitely a title contender. For sure,” Terry told FOX Sports Florida before Dallas’ 106-85 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena about his interest. “(Team president) Pat Riley is a great guy and what he’s done with the organization is tremendous.

“No question, they need a veteran shooter, a guy who can score besides LeBron (James) and (Dwyane Wade), and they know they can count on. I’m a guy that’s been in this league 13 years, (averaging) 15 points a night, easy. Off the bench or the starting lineup, it doesn’t matter. So I think I’d be an asset to them.”


Terry’s words ring true. He could definitely be a help off the bench and he’s a winning player. He doesn’t care how much he plays, if he starts or comes off the bench, or how many shots he gets. He’d be perfect for the second unit.

My question is how many more veterans who want a crack at a ring are willing to gravy train their way to a championship. Because that’s what it’s amounting to right now.

Odom is bothered by fans’ booing

This has been a trying season for Lamar Odom. There was the trade to the Dallas Mavericks and numerous off court issues, including his public marriage to Khloe Kardashian. There were reports that Odom approached Mark Cuban about a buyout.

Odom seems to be the most sensitive player in the NBA if you ask me. He’s sulked his way through most of this season and some of it I understand. But I believe when he was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers hurt him the most. Personally he should get over it. I do have a little sympathy for him, but it’s hard to sympathize with someone that gets paid millions to play basketball.

Odom has said that the fans’ booing has bothered him and he finds it confusing.

“I’ve never been booed in my life,” he said. “So if it’s to the point where I’m playing a basketball game at home and I’m getting booed, I would say _ no disrespect _but maybe I think people took things the wrong way.


“I admitted that I was out of shape for different reasons when I came into camp. I admitted what I’ve been through. I was honest about how my summer went, how I almost left the game and everything I went through. And I think people just took it the wrong way, like if I had a reason not to be here _ or I didn’t want to be here.


“I think people took that the wrong way. Next thing I know, I’m trying to come out of a slump and I check into the game and I’m getting booed. I’m not really used to that.”


“It’s part of the game,” he said. “I understand, but it usually happens on the road. I’ve always had a lot of pride to play for the name on the back of my jersey. I’ve always been more prideful to play for the name that’s on the front of my jersey _ whether it be USA or whether it be the Mavericks or the other team I came from. I always had a lot of pride.


“So it was a little confusing and a little hurtful, but it’s the sport world. I understand. We’re in a business that it’s all about what have you done lately, or the last game or the next game?”


“I would say confused. I wouldn’t say angry, because there are a lot of sides to Lamar Odom, know what I mean? Sportsman is one of them. I’m a father, a husband, someone’s son, someone’s cousin. So there’s a lot of roles that I have to play in life. Basketball is just one of them. So I can’t let it get me angry because I have a lot of other roles to fulfill.”  


Odom needs to just man up and play ball. He has the ability but it always seems like his head has never been in the right place. Maybe a move back to Miami or Los Angeles might be in store for Odom in order to get his groove back.

Odom with Mavericks D-League affiliate

This has been a lost season for Dallas Mavericks forward, Lamar Odom. After unexpectedly being dealt to the New Orleans Hornets, then to the Dallas Mavericks, Odom clearly hasn’t been the same player he was with the Los Angeles Lakers. The former Sixth Man of the Year has been in a year long funk.

There was a brief flirtation with retirement to get over some personal issues, issues that still seem to dog Odom. He recently took some personal leave time to be with his ill father in Los Angeles before the All-Star break. Now he’ll be suiting up for the Mavs’ D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, to “get his legs back” before he rejoins the team.

Odom is likely to play at least one game with the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate in nearby Frisco to, as one source said, “get his legs back under him.” The Texas Legends play the Austin Toros at home Thursday night, but sources said it’s more likely Odom practices with the Legends on Friday while the Mavericks are in New Orleans and then plays Saturday’s home game with the Legends, also against Austin, while the Mavericks are playing host to Utah.


There are some Mavericks that feel Odom won’t be rejoining the team, but I don’t think Mark Cuban will be having any of it. All I know is that Odom has hurt the defending champions more than he has helped them. He could still be a valuable piece to the Mavericks puzzle, if he has his head on straight and is ready to play.

“It’s going to work itself out one way or another,” Mavericks guard Jason Kidd said Tuesday of the Odom situation. “We just hope it works itself out soon.”


Said Mavs guard Jason Terry: “We’ve got to go with the players we got. If you’re here, you can help us. But our sympathies go out to his family.” 


This is more to get Odom in gear than to “get his legs back”. If you ask me, this is more of a heart and head check than anything.

Odom Almost Took A Year Off

Lamar Odom revealed that he came close to taking a year off from basketball to get his mind together. The near trade to the New Orleans Hornets and subsequent trade to the Dallas Mavericks weren’t the reasons why he had a thought about leaving.

Left reeling by the July murder of his 24-year-old cousin and a fatal car accident days later that killed a teen pedestrian after the car he was riding in as a passenger collided with a motorcycle, Odom told ESPN.com that he had to be convinced by wife Khloe Kardashian to scrap his plans for a hiatus.



“Real close,” Odom said when asked Saturday how close he came to asking the Lakers for a season-long sabbatical.


“My wife talked me out of it.

“Cause I was asking myself: ‘Was I mentally prepared to play? If I didn’t play well, was I mentally prepared to help the team?’ I had thought, ‘Maybe I need a year.’ Because of the lockout, I thought, ‘Maybe somebody’s sending me a sign that I needed this time off.’


“(But) when I told some of my friends and my family that I was thinking about steppin’ back for a minute, I think the reaction from the closest people to me kind of gave me the energy to get back at it.”

With some of the events that have transpired recently in Odom’s life I have to take him at his word. Sometimes tragic events stick with someone forever. With what Odom has gone through, you just don’t get over it, so being traded is small potaotes in his prism of life.

But Odom, dismissing the notion of a trade hangover, said Saturday that the events of July made him realize “how much I wasn’t over some of the things that I went through (in life),” most notably the death of 6-month-old son Jayden in 2006 from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).



“I thought it was good time for me to take a step back,” Odom said of his sabbatical idea. Asked if he imagined it as just a one-season break, Odom added: “I don’t know. ‘Cause who knows where time away is gonna take you? You never know.”

Who wouldn’t want to take a break after all the drama. However, since he has been in the NBA there has always looked like something was amiss with Odom. He just looked like the classic floater, with the Clippers more than anyone, but he was supposed to be a game changer when he came out of Rhode Island. He gets by on being so talented and athletic he really doesn’t work too hard at it, but he’s still a damn good player.

Hopefully he can get his head straight and help the Mavericks defend their title. It’s been a rough start for Odom and the Mavericks, but I’m sure he’ll start to put everything together after he gets a little more comfortable.

McGrady Thinks Howard And Williams Will Land In Dallas

Dwight Howard is still waiting to be traded and Deron Williams wants help in New Jersey. The two parties recently had dinner together. It could’ve been to get an idea of where each other wanted to play at next season.

There is one person who thinks that they will end up playing together. Tracy McGrady. You see, McGrady can predict the future and in his future he sees that Howard and Williams will go and team up with Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas. I bet Mark Cuban would love for that to be true. I’d rather have McGrady tell me tomorrow’s winning lottery number.

It could happen, since the Mavs jettisoned some contributors from last year’s championship team and acquired some cap space. Enough to land the two biggest fish in next year’s free agent class.

“D-Will is from Dallas,” McGrady said. “You’ve got Dirk Nowitzki there. They’re going to have [cap space] there. That looks sweet. Dirk. D-Will. And then you get Dwight Howard. That’s it, right there.”

McGrady added: “Dwight’s going to find a sweeter spot for him next year with him being a free agent, with D-Will being a free agent, and Dallas already having an established star there. … Yup, Dallas.”

A dream scenario for Mavs fans and a possible nightmare for opponents. I think it won’t happen and look for the Los Angeles Lakers to be a player for either one.

  

   

Sweet Bling

When Mark Cuban said he might not get the Dallas Mavericks championship rings, no one saw this coming. The Bazooka Candy Company has stepped up and provided the Mavs with some sweet bling for all their hard work.

“Bazooka Candy Brands, the iconic confectionary company and manufacturer of Ring Pops, believes that the Dallas Mavericks should be rewarded for all their hard work and their NBA finals win,” the company said in a statement that was posted on CBSSports.com. “That is why they will be stepping in and saving the day, creating Swarovski-encrusted Ring Pops in the team colors of Blue and White for the team to wear to celebrate their feat. The Ring Pops will be shipped to the team shortly.”

Of course these aren’t official, but they are creative, fresh, and sweet. Props to the Bazooka Company for this idea. Even though i had to give up Ring Pops and candy of that nature due to personal reasons, I would love to get one of these for myself.

Dallas Mavericks Are Honorary Ohioans

It seems everyone is jumping on the Dallas Mavericks bandwagon. I know the supposed superteam Miami Heat were the villains and all but the bandwagon is usually reserved for fans and not government officials.

Ohio Governor, John Kasich, has declared the Dallas Mavericks honorary Ohioans after their NBA Finals win over the Heat. It’s complete with a document with a state seal.

You can read the full large size version here.

I guees this soothes the natives in Ohio since they do seem to be a snakebitten state when it comes to sports.

 

Shawn Marion Trying To Land A Reality TV Show

Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion is the latest athlete to try to get a reality tv show. According to a report from TMZ.com, Marion will be shooting a pilot for his show which will be called “The Ladies in My Life“.

It will not be how Marion is a playa off the court. It’ll be based on his mother, sisters and publicist. The most important women in his life.

I would like to say that Marion should concentrate on basketball, but with a possible lockout looming, he may want to expand his horizons as far as getting paid. Like trying to get after that tv money.