 |
The Los Angeles Clippers today acquired forward Lamar Odom from the Dallas Mavericks as part of a four-team trade also involving the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets. The Clippers sent point guard Mo Williams to the Jazz and the draft rights to Furkan Aldemir, the Clippers’ second round selection (53rd overall) in the 2012 NBA Draft to Houston while the Jazz conveyed the draft rights of Tadija Dragicevic, Utah’s second round pick (53rd overall) in the 2008 NBA Draft to Dallas.
To complete the trade, Dallas sent the draft rights of Shan Foster, the Mavericks’ second round selection (51st overall) in the 2008 NBA Draft to the Jazz with Houston sending cash considerations to Dallas.
This marks a return to the Clippers for Odom, who was originally selected by Los Angeles with the fourth overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. In four seasons with the Clippers, Odom tallied 15.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.3 blocks and 36.0 minutes per game.
According to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com, “Nine years is a lifetime in the NBA. Since leaving the Clippers as a callow talent brimming with potential, Odom established himself as the game’s premier multi-skilled big man, won two rings with the Los Angeles Lakers, used his celebrity as an adjunct Kardashian to cross over as a star on the shlock-ertainment circuit, consumed heaping amounts of refined sugar before games and, over time, emerged as one of the more interesting personalities in the league. Odom was devastated when was included in the post-lockout trade last December that would’ve sent him from the Lakers to New Orleans. He was so distraught that, when the deal wasn’t consummated, the Lakers felt compelled to send him away to Dallas for nothing rather than deal with the emotional fallout. In Dallas, Odom found another basketball hell, one of his own creation. After a series of incidents, the Mavericks finally told him to take a walk a few weeks before the playoffs. Mark Cuban called it “addition by subtraction.”
Odom left the Clippers as a restricted free agent, joining the Miami Heat prior to the start of the 2003-04 season. After one season in Miami, Odom was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers along with current Clipper forward Caron Butler in the multi-player deal that sent Shaquille O’Neal to the Heat.
The winner of the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award following a strong 2010-11 season with the Lakers, Odom has averaged 14.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.0 blocks and 34.7 minutes over his 13-year NBA career. Odom played a crucial role for the Lakers during their back-to-back NBA Championships in 2009 and 2010.
After seven seasons with the Lakers, Odom was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on December 11, 2011. Odom tallied 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 20.5 minutes in 50 games played for the Mavericks last season.
 |
A 2009 NBA All-Star selection, Williams (6-1, 195, Alabama) is entering his 10th NBA season and has appeared in 589 career games (432 starts), owning career averages of 13.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 30.4 minutes with Utah, Milwaukee, Cleveland and the Clippers. He has also played in 41 career playoff games (25 starts) and averaged 12.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists. This past season Williams saw action in 52 games (one start) for the Clippers, averaging 13.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 28.3 minutes while helping L.A. to the best record in franchise history and a trip to the Western Conference Semifinals.
The 29-year-old Jackson, Miss., native was originally selected by the Jazz in the second round (47th overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft. As a rookie in 2003-04, his only season with the Jazz, Williams appeared in 57 games (no starts) and averaged 5.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 13.5 minutes. His best statistical NBA season came with Cleveland during the 2008-09 season, when he averaged a career-high 17.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists and hit .436 (183-420) from three-point range in 81 games (all starts) and was named an Eastern Conference All-Star before helping lead the Cavaliers to the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.
Foster (6-6, 205) was the 51st overall selection of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Mavericks. He finished his four-year career at Vanderbilt as the school’s all-time leading scorer (2,011 points) and first in three-pointers made (367). He was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 2008. Foster spent last season playing overseas for Belfius Mons-Hainaut in Belgium.
Dragicevic (6-9, 246) was the 53rd overall pick in the 2008 Draft by the Utah Jazz. He is a native of Serbia and averaged 10.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game for Angelico Biella in Italy.
