NBA: Lamar Odom Returns To Clippers in 4-team Trade!

Sabrina B.

Lamar Odom will try to revitalize his career right back where he started.

The Dallas Mavericks traded Odom to the Los Angeles Clippers in part of a four-team trade Thursday.

 

The Clippers send guard Mo Williams to the Utah Jazz. Utah will use the trade exception it created in the Mehmet Okur deal with New Jersey this past season to take on Williams’ contract.

 

The Mavericks also will create their own trade exception worth $8.2 million by shedding Odom’s contract without taking any salary back.

Dallas will also receive the draft rights to forward Tadija Dragicevicfrom Utah and cash considerations from the Houston Rockets. The Clippers will send he draft rights to second-round pick Furkan Aldemirto Houston as part of the deal.

 

All parties essentially had agreed to the deal Thursday, but it could not proceed until Williams made a firm decision on whether to pick up his option for next season, which he did Friday afternoon.

 

Bartelstein stressed the delay had more to do with timing, rather than any issue Williams had playing for Utah, where he began his career in 2003.

 

“There was no blocking going on,” Bartelstein said. “When you make a decision like this, you want to study it very closely.

 

“But the more we looked at it, the more excited we were about going back to Utah. Mo’s very happy to be going back there.”

 

The trade will be a homecoming for Odom and Williams, who started their careers with the Clippers and Jazz, respectively.

 

 

In a text message to ESPNLosAngeles.com, Williams wrote: “It’s where it all began. I’m excited about the opportunity.”

 

Williams spoke with Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor and coach Tyrone Corbin before opting into the final year of his deal.

 

Friday had been the deadline in Odom’s contract for Dallas to either pay $2.4 million to buy out his $8.2 million salary for next season or have him on the books for 2012-13.

 

While Williams pondered his options, sources told Stein the Mavericks and Odom had agreed to extend the buyout deadline in Odom’s contract until Saturday, leaving one more day to finalize the proposed three-way trade.

The Clippers are hoping Odom looks more like the player who won the Sixth Man of the Year Award with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011, and not the enigmatic player who shot just 35 percent from the field and averaged a career-low 6.6 points for the Mavericks last season.

 

“No point looking in the rear-view mirror,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told ESPNDallas.com. “… There are definitely advantages from a cap perspective.”

 

While he had asked to be traded by the Lakers after learning he’d been included in the failed trade for Chris Paul, Odom never settled in with the Mavericks. The Clippers are hoping a return to his home in Los Angeles will be enough for the 32-year old forward to return to form.

 

Still, it will be an interesting homecoming for Odom. The Clippers originally drafted him No. 4 overall in 1999. He averaged 16.6 points as a rookie and 17.2 points in his second year but left rather unceremoniously in 2003-04 to join the Miami Heat.

 

 

That exit seems to be water under the bridge for the Clippers, who long have coveted a talented offensive frontcourt player to play alongside and back up Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro smiled when was asked Thursday about Odom and the trade, but was not able to speak on the record until the deal was completed.

 

“I can’t talk about other teams’ players,” Del Negro said. “But you know what a player of his caliber has done in this league. …

 

“We’ll figure all that out (Friday). Hopefully, we can finish out the things that we’ve been working on and move the team in the right direction for what’s best for everyone. There’s still a lot of work to be done, and we’ll move forward in that direction. Obviously, tomorrow is a very important day.”

 

WRITTEN BY Ramona Shelburne | ESPNLosAngeles.com ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein and ESPNDallas.com’s Jeff Caplan contributed to this report & FULL STORY HERE