Lamar Odom to be traded in offseason?

[DJ Mbenga]

here is actually part of bergens article. its not even the summer and the speculation begins. bergen is actually a pretty good source, up there with worjirhwsky. he was on the melo thing before many people were.

Of the teams Howard is likely to consider when exercising his early-termination option after next season -- sources say the Lakers, Knicks and Nets are the strong favorites -- L.A. is the one with the most attractive trade assets. The massive contracts attached to the Lakers' most desirable players also puts them in the rare position of being able to absorb either Arenas or Turkoglu as a way to soften the blow for Orlando.
"Everybody knows that Dwight Howard wants to be a Laker," said a person familiar with the All-Star center's plans. "They're going to lose Dwight Howard for nothing. He's not staying there. Dwight Howard is going to be in the same mode as LeBron James."
So would the Magic, facing the reality of losing their franchise cornerstone and getting nothing in return, accept Gasol and Odom, Bynum and Odom, or even Bynum and Gasol as the centerpiece of a Howard trade?
"Probably," said a high-profile agent with a hand in past maneuverings for both teams.
The clincher, under current CBA rules that would govern any trades conducted before the deal expires July 1, would be assembling salaries in a way that would allow Orlando to get out from under their massive and ill-advised obligations to Turkloglu and/or Arenas. In all likelihood, the Lakers are the only team with the salaries and commensurate talent to pull it off.
If you're the Magic, staring at an uncertain future with limited flexibility to build around Howard, you would feel pretty good about getting one of the world's most skilled power forwards (Gasol), the only center in the league with the potential to rival Howard (Bynum, with an asterisk due to his history of knee injuries), or the league's best sixth man (Odom, who has the ability to be so much more as a starter). Any one of them would be a better asset than Cleveland (James), Toronto (Chris Bosh), Denver (Carmelo Anthony), or Utah (Deron Williams) got for its departing superstar. Two of them would be a haul of talent that Magic GM Otis Smith simply wouldn't be able to turn down.
As for the Lakers, blowing up a team that won the past two championships would take careful deliberation. Executive vice president Jim Buss has consistently quashed any notion of trading Bynum, and Gasol did deliver Bryant's fourth and fifth championship rings despite his abysmal showing in the Dallas series. And Odom?
"No one wants to trade Lamar Odom," said a person familiar with the Lakers' thinking. "But at a certain point, you don't have a choice. You've got to rebuild it."
Jerry Buss has built three Lakers dynasties; not one, three. This time, the stakes are higher than ever. He has Bryant's legacy to consider, as well as, in all likelihood, a new coach.
Would acquiring Howard be enough to breathe new life into Bryant's pursuit of tying, or perhaps surpassing Jordan's mark of six championships? It depends on the price and how the Lakers solve their point-guard dilemma in the process. And speaking of which, there are two solutions other than Howard that would provide the Lakers with a different path to the same goal: Williams and Chris Paul, two elite point guards whose immediate futures in New Jersey and New Orleans, respectively, are anything but settled.
The Nets are more focused on acquiring a top-tier talent to pair with Williams as they prepare for their move to Brooklyn in 2012, and Howard is most certainly at the top of their list. But would New Orleans, facing the same 2012 opt-out dilemma with Paul, be tempted by a Lakers package featuring one or two of the most skilled big men anywhere in the world? It would be a conversation starter, to say the least.

seems like his sources feel an la deal is realistic. that last part about a cp3 deal which would lead ma br hornet to suicide is pure speculation.

[DMC]

the lakers have to decide what o they are running
phil jackson said he is done
all they running the triangle
if not they need a point guard

Doesn't even rhyme.