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Lamar Odom came close to joining Miami Heat

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ira Winderman) reports: In an emotional, candid and introspective radio interview Friday, Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom revealed that he, indeed, stood on the verge of returning to South Florida as a free agent this week and insisted that he never attempted to use the Miami Heat as leverage. “I was really close,” Odom told ESPN-760 host Evan Cohen. “I weighed and I balanced every option. I did it 50 times, 60 times.” … “It was a tough decision,” he told the West Palm Beach station. “It was hard. Pat, Micky and Dwyane, I love those guys. Micky is an incredible owner. Of course, D-Wade is my friend. Pat? I don’t know what Pat is to me; he’s a little bit more special to me than just a coach. I look up to him tremendously. “It was hard.” … That, Odom said, made it difficult for him to inform Riley and Wade of his Thursday decision. “It was tough,” he said. “I sent them a text and let them know how appreciative I was, and I’ll probably get to speak to them face to face when I get down to Miami at the end of the month and I get set in my home and just relax and take some time out and reflect.”

Lakers re-sign Lamar Odom

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent forward Lamar Odom to a multi-year contract, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Odom, who was acquired by the Lakers on July 14, 2004 as part of a trade with the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal, appeared in 78 regular season games with Los Angeles during the 2008-09 campaign, averaging 11.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.26 blocks in 29.7 minutes.

In the 2008-09 postseason, Odom appeared in 23 games (5 starts), averaging 12.3 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.35 blocks in 32.0 minutes, while posting 14 double-figure scoring games and converting seven double-doubles.

Odom, the fourth overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, left the University of Rhode Island after a sophomore season in which he was named AP Honorable Mention All-America and Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. After tallying 30 points and 12 rebounds in his NBA debut, Odom went on to be selected to the 1999-2000 NBA All-Rookie First team. In 2005-06, Odom was the only player in the NBA to average better than 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, and in ten NBA seasons, has career averages of 15.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 36.5 minutes in 665 games.

In five seasons with the Lakers, Odom is averaging 14.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 36.6 minutes.

EARLIER REPORTS FROM PREVIOUS DAY

ESPN (J.A. Adande and Marc Stein) reports: Free agent forward Lamar Odom will return to the Los Angeles Lakers, an NBA source said Thursday. One source with knowledge of the talks told ESPN.com the four-year deal is worth $33 million if the Lakers exercise the final season. One source close to the process said Odom will come away with a guaranteed $27 million from the new contract, matching the original value of the three-year, $27 million deal Lakers owner Jerry Buss pulled off the table earlier this month. It’s believed that the structure of the new deal calls for Odom to earn $25 million over the first three seasons, with the Lakers owing him $2 million in the fourth year if they elect not to pick up their team option.

CBS Sports (Ken Berger) reports: Neither the Lakers nor Odom’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, would comment Thursday on Odom’s decision to spurn a multi-year offer from the Miami Heat and stay with the defending champion Lakers. But a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CBSSports.com that Odom’s teammates have been informed that the 6-10 forward isn’t going anywhere. Initial reports indicate that it’s a three-year deal with a team option that would push the total value north of $30 million. That’s less than the Lakers originally offered, however — a sign of just how much Odom wanted to stay with the Lakers.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I told you yesterday this would probably happen — though it was educated speculation and there was no actual confirmation of anything. As for Odom sticking with the Lakers, as an independent observer I’m a bit disappointed, because I generally like it when a top team loses a key player and that player goes to a squad that needs him even more, simply for the sake of good competition. Odom would have definitely helped the Heat. Anyway, although the Lakers lost Trevor Ariza, the re-signing of Odom and addition of Ron Artest means they’ll continue on as the league’s best team and are the early off-season InsideHoops.com favorite to repeat and win the 2010 championship. Laker fans should be happy. The opposition, not so much.

Read NBA fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Lamar Odom needs a job

Los Angeles Lakers free agent forward Lamar Odom needs to make up his mind and sign NBA contract. He’s basically down to either re-signing with his championship-winning squad or jumping ship for a bit more financial security and joining Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.

The following is “educated speculation” as to what the versatile, talented veteran is likely to do:

1) 60% chance he re-signs with the Lakers, for a slightly shorter contract that he reportedly wants.

2) 35% chance he ignores the fact that he just won a championship, leaves town, joins D-Wade on the Heat for a more secure contract but very little shot at a title.

3) 3% chance something unexpected happens, like a sign-and-trade placing him with another team somewhere. I can’t even guess who that may be.

4) 1% chance he decides to imitate Stephon Marbury and starts his own webcam broadcast where day and night he yells and screams about haters, proves he’s not crazy by eating vaseline, dancing and crying a lot, and rants that you can’t put him in a box, while laughing a lot.

5) 1% chance he retires from basketball and becomes a farmer in rural Kentucky, taking up wearing overalls and a straw hat while becoming a hardcore country music fan.

But seriously, I’m told he’s more likely to stay with the Lakers than join the Heat.

– Jeff Lenchiner, editor of InsideHoops.com

Shaq guest host on WWE wrestling show Monday Night Raw

NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is a guest host tonight on the famous WWE wrestling show “Monday Night Raw,” which is nationally televised. This week’s edition takes place in Washington D.C.

It began with wrestling legend Jerry Lawler introducing Shaq to fans, mistakenly calling him “a 15-time NBA MVP.”

Then, current wrestling star Chris Jericho came out, insulting Shaq, saying that he heard a top NBA superstar was coming out and naturally assumed it was Kobe Bryant, not Shaq.

Jericho’s friend (and tag team partner) “The Big Show” was introduced and stood face to face with Shaq. Big Show is about 7 feet tall and listed at 485 pounds. In all my years I’ve never seen Shaq as the smaller dude. (Yao Ming is taller than Shaq, but Shaq’s still the bigger dude.)

Big Show called Shaq a toothpick. Shaq called him “Fat Boy” in return.

Naturally, Shaq didn’t exchange blows with anyone. He’s just there to guest-host and stay healthy for the 2009-10 NBA season as a new member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

About 40 minutes into the show, Hornswoggle, a “little person” Irish wrestling character dressed like a tiny leprechaun came into a room Shaq was in backstage. Shaq joked that they went to high school together, then invited Hornswoggle to dunk on a lowered basket. “Come on, Nate Robinson” said Shaq, encouraging the little fellow.

The show began at 9 p.m. ET on USA network.

Miami Heat re-sign Jamaal Magloire

The Miami HEAT have announced that they have re-signed center Jamaal Magloire. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Magloire, who originally signed with the HEAT as a free agent on September 2, 2008, has appeared in 592 career games (313 starts). During his nine-year NBA career, he has averaged 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 23.2 minutes while shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 65.3 percent from the foul line. The former NBA All-Star (2004) has appeared in 42 postseason contests (18 starts) and averaged 7.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 21.1 minutes while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 68.2 percent from the foul line.

During the 2008-09 season, Magloire appeared in 55 games (12 starts) for Miami and averaged 2.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 12.9 minutes while shooting 49.6 percent from the field. In his 12 starts, his averages increased to 5.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 16.7 minutes while connecting on 63.6 percent of his shots.

Magloire led the HEAT and finished 28th in the NBA in rebounds per 48 minutes (15.0). He also led the team in rebounds on four separate occasions and in blocks three times. Additionally, he was the HEAT’s leading scorer off the bench in three games while topping the HEAT reserves in rebounds on 17 occasions, in blocks 13 times, in steals seven times, in assists in three contests and in minutes once.

He drew 13 charges on the season which was the third-best team total. Magloire also appeared in six postseason games and totaled two points, 11 rebounds and one assist while shooting 1-of-3 from the field in 47 minutes.

Miami Heat re-sign Joel Anthony

The Miami HEAT announced today that they have re-signed center Joel Anthony. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Anthony, who originally signed with the HEAT as a free agent on July 3, 2007, has appeared in 89 career games (29 starts). During his two-year NBA career, all with Miami, he has averaged 2.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.39 blocks and 17.4 minutes while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 62.1 percent from the foul line. In his 29 career starts, he has averaged 3.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.41 blocks in 19.8 minutes. He owns the franchise record for the most blocks off the HEAT bench during a single game after he blocked six shots off the bench at Indiana on Mar. 31, 2008. Anthony currently ranks 16th on the HEAT’s all-time blocked shots list with 124.

During the 2008-09 season, Anthony appeared in 65 games (28 starts) and averaged 2.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.43 blocks and 16.1 minutes while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 65.2 percent from the foul line. He finished second on the team in total blocks (93) and blocks per game (1.43) and tied for fourth in offensive rebounds (89). He led the team in blocks 26 times and blocked a shot in a career-tying seven consecutive games from Dec. 12 thru Dec. 26, 2008. He scored a career-high 12 points while grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds at Memphis on Dec. 14. Additionally, he appeared in six postseason games (two starts) totaling 10 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks while shooting 4-of-5 from the field and a perfect 2-of-2 from the foul line.

Cavaliers sign Jamario Moon to offer sheet

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed restricted free agent forward Jamario Moon to a contract offer sheet, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today. Per team and league policy, terms of the contract offer were not released.

Several media outlets are reporting that the offer is for two years, though they aren’t sure what the dollar amount of the deal is. It’s likely Moon is receiving between $2 and $3.2 million per season. We’ll update this info tonight.

The Miami Heat have seven days to match the offer and retain Moon.

Moon played in 80 games (60 starts) this past season for the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat. He averaged 7.2 points on .468 shooting, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 25.8 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8 forward scored in double figures on 25 occasions. He led the NBA in steals-to-turnovers ratio (2.0) during the 2008-09 season. In two seasons in the NBA, Moon has career averages of 7.8 points on .478 shooting, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game.

UPDATE: The Heat decline to match the offer. So, Cavs get Moon.

Shaq lands sports-reality TV show

USA Today (Gary Levin) reports: NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is getting ready to multitask. The four-time hoops champion, who joins the Cleveland Cavaliers next season, will star in “Shaq Vs.,” an ABC reality series that pits him against top athletes in their own sports. Filming begins Wednesday in Pittsburgh, where Shaq takes on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football. Future hourlong episodes will pit him against Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, tennis pro Serena Williams and beach volleyball Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The show sounds like it should be fun to watch, if done correctly. Ideally, the guest athletes share cool stuff that we wouldn’t normally hear or see and bring something new, aside from showing off skills we already know they possess.

Cleveland Cavaliers sign Jamario Moon to offer sheet

The Boston Herald reports: The Cavaliers have picked up where the Celtics couldn’t get things done. The Cavs have signed restricted free agent swingman Jamario Moon to an offer sheet, the Miami Heat confirmed today. Miami has seven days to match the offer. The 6-foot-8 Moon played 25.9 minutes per game last season for the Heat and Raptors, averaging 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Antoine Walker arrested in casino

The Miami Herald reports: Former NBA forward Antoine Walker, a member of the Miami Heat’s 2006 championship team, was arrested Wednesday night in Harrah’s Casino in South Lake Tahoe, Nev., NBC Sports has reported. This came a day after a warrant was issued stemming from Walker’s $822,500 in gambling debts. He is accused of three felony counts of writing bad checks. County prosecutors say he failed to make good on 10 checks totaling $1 million written to Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and the Red Rock Resort.

InsideHoops.com editor says: This is sure to help his NBA comeback attempt!