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Lamar Odom withdraws from 2012 USA Basketball National Team

Lamar Odom withdraws from 2012 USA Basketball National Team

The following has been known for days, but just became official today:

Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Clippers) has informed USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo and USA Basketball Men’s National Team head coach Mike Krzyzewski that he will be unavailable to play for the USA Basketball National Team this summer.

“Lamar has told us that he is unable to play for the United States this summer.  While it is unfortunate to have lost the players we have, Coach Krzyzewski and I remain extremely confident with the group of players we’ll have at our training camp in Las Vegas.  We believe that we will still have an outstanding collection of talent and that ultimately we will have another team that all Americans will be excited about and proud of,” said Colangelo.

The 15 USA finalists will assemble July 5 in Las Vegas, Nev., for the start of the 2012 USA National Team training. The USA’s 12-man roster will be announced after the team’s practice on July 7.  Finalists contending for a roster spot include: Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks); Anthony Davis (New Orleans Hornets); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (New Orleans Hornets); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); LeBron James (Miami Heat); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder); and Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets).

Lamar Odom traded to Clippers, Mo Williams to Jazz in 4-team deal

Lamar Odom

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.

mo williams

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.

Mavericks trade Darius Johnson-Odom rights to Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired the draft rights to Darius Johnson-Odom (55th overall pick) from Dallas in exchange for cash considerations and have selected Robert Sacre with the 60th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, it was announced today.

Johnson-Odom, a 6-2 guard out of Marquette, averaged 15.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 105 career games. As a senior, the Raleigh, North Carolina native led his team in scoring (18.3ppg) and earned First Team All-Big East honors in addition to being named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press.

Sacre, a 7-0 Center from Gonzaga finished his career with the Bulldogs ranked second all-time in school history in career blocks (186) while averaging 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 135 games. As a senior, Sacre was named the 2012 WCC Defensive Player of the Year as well as an All-WCC First-Team honoree while averaging 11.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.

Former NBA player Pat Cummings dead at 55

Pat Cummings, who played with five NBA teams over a 12-year career after being selected Metro Conference Player of the Year at Cincinnati, was found dead in a New York apartment, according to police. He was 55.

The 6-foot-9 Cummings, a native of Johnstown, Pa., was found Tuesday afternoon, police said Wednesday. They said the cause of death was to be determined but foul play wasn’t suspected…

He was drafted by Milwaukee in the third round and was traded to Dallas in 1982. He signed with the New York Knicks as a free agent in 1984 and also played for Miami and Utah.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Clippers in trade talks for Lamar Odom

lamar odom

The Los Angeles Clippers have engaged in trade discussions to bring Lamar Odom back to the L.A. team that drafted him, according to sources close to the situation.

Yet the deal, sources said, could hinge on the willingness of a third team to take on the contract of Clippers veteran guard Mo Williams, which would allow the Dallas Mavericks to send Odom to the Clippers with no significant money coming back to the Mavericks.

With a Friday deadline looming for the Mavericks to buy out the final year of Odom’s contract for $2.4 million, Dallas officials have green-lighted Odom’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, to try to find a new home for Odom this week via trade. The Mavericks and Schwartz also have discussed pushing the deadline back into July if an Odom trade can’t be struck before Friday.

The Mavericks’ interest in an Odom deal, though, is purely to gain financial flexibility, which likely necessitates a third team to take on Williams. If no trade can be struck, either this week or before an adjusted deadline, Dallas is expected to eventually buy Odom out and make him a free agent, with big-market teams such as Miami and New York also planning to pursue him in that scenario.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Deron Williams prefers Nets, Mavericks

deron williams

When NBA free agency begins at midnight July 1, Brooklyn Nets star guard Deron Williams will be choosing from a two-team list that only features the Nets and the Dallas Mavericks, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources told ESPN.com on Saturday night that, while this summer’s No. 1 free agent remains “up in the air” about which team he’ll ultimately chose, Williams already has made the decision to narrow his list of potential destinations to those two franchises.

Other teams, including the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets, had been hoping to lodge their own bids for Williams once free agency begins, sources said. The Los Angeles Lakers, likewise have continued to express interest in a sign-and-trade package built around Pau Gasol for Williams, sources say, despite the Nets’ longstanding insistence that they have no interest in Gasol and would only consider such a move if they were getting back All-Star center Andrew Bynum, whom the Lakers have not made available.

Sources say Williams, in any case, already has instructed his representatives to advise any team that calls starting at 12:01 a.m. July 1 that he intends to either re-sign with the Nets or return to his hometown with the Mavericks after a glittering high school career in the Dallas area.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Jason Terry hopes to stay with Mavericks

jason terry

At a festive, daddy-daughter bash on Father’s Day, Jason Terry delivered some tough news for Mavericks fans to hear.

If the 2011 NBA champions elect to rebuild their team with one-year contract “rentals,” Terry will be playing elsewhere next season.

Terry, whose six-year, $57 million contract ends on July 1, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, said Sunday he wants to sign another multiyear deal, preferably with the Mavericks. But as the Mavericks’ free-agent possibilities start to take shape, it won’t happen for one year.

“It’s a tough situation,” Terry said. “I’m finally in a position where I can kind of predict my own future, so to speak. I want to stay here in Dallas. That’s always been my goal. But it needs to be long-term. If they’re not ready to step up and do that, then I’ll have to make my home elsewhere.”

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

Penny Marshall ripped off by scammer pretending to work for Lamar Odom

Attention filthy rich LA Lakers fans — Lamar Odom does not have a cash-strapped assistant … something director Penny Marshall learned after getting jacked for several thousand bucks.Sources tell TMZ the double-cross started at a Lakers game last month … when a man claiming to be LO’s assistant gave Penny a phone number he said was Lamar’s.

We’re told Penny and the person she thought was Lamar texted back and forth for several days — when finally “Lamar” asked her to loan his assistant a chunk o’ cash. Ever the faithful Lakers fan, Penny forked over more than five grand to the faux “assistant.”

Hook. Line. Sinker.

— Reported by TMZ

Mark Cuban still wants NBA players out of Olympics

Mark Cuban’s repeated criticism of the NBA for allowing its stars to play in the Olympics is no longer falling on deaf ears in the commissioner’s office.

David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that they are no longer sure they want to see NBA veterans playing in the Olympics beyond this summer’s Games in London and will look into a 23-and-under age limit, as soccer does.

The news came as a welcome surprise to Cuban, who touted a 22-and-under age limit as recently as April.

“Yes, I’m thrilled,” Cuban told ESPNDallas.com on Wednesday night.

The most outspoken of the league’s owners regarding the NBA’s participation in the Olympics and all international competition during the NBA’s offseason, Cuban said in April that he believed the topic of NBA players’ availability was a dead issue, saying, “The commissioner’s office won’t open it up to discussion. They’ll take calls about it, but won’t put it up for a vote. Hopefully, I can get him to move it to a vote at some point.”

Silver made it clear Wednesday that Cuban’s voice is resonating.

— Reported by Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas