NBA Trade Rumors: Mavericks Must Move Lackadaisical Lamar Odom

I'm going to start this article by making the argument for why the Mavericks shouldn't trade Lamar Odom, and then I'll go ahead and rebuke that argument.

First, we get the possibility of Odom suitors from Ric Bucher of ESPN:

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I'm told that Lamar Odom is desperate to go back to L.A. The Lakers will not take him. The Clippers would love to make that deal, but they don't have the pieces that Dallas would want right now because Dallas wants expiring contracts to be a free-agent player. But don't be surprised if Lamar Odom makes his way back to L.A. It just won't be this season.

"

It's no secret that Odom hasn't been a happy camper since coming to Dallas, nor has the team been pleased with his production (or lack thereof).

But Odom does serve one very interesting purpose for the team: His $8.2 million salary can come off the books after this season since the Mavericks hold a team option for 2012-13.

And for a squad rumored to have interest in potentially bringing in Dwight Howard and Deron Williams through free agency next year, that's a valuable asset.

So why trade him?

Well, for one thing, he hasn't really helped the team all that much this season. And it's not as though Dirk Nowitzki is getting any younger—the Mavericks need to try to win as many championships as they can before the Dirk window closes.

Especially if they can't land Howard and Williams in the offseason.

So yes, I do think the Mavericks should trade Odom, but with one extremely important caveat—if they can bring back a talented veteran with an expiring contract, someone who will help the team both during the season and this offseason.

Perhaps they can get a third team involved to make a move with the Clippers. They'll probably have to get a bit creative.

Hey, did someone use the words creative and trade in the same sentence? That could mean only one thing—it's trade machine time!

Sure, it's probably madness, but crazier things have happened, right?

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