NBA Rumors: Mavericks Smart Not to Buy out Lamar Odom's Contract

Lamar Odom has been officially atrocious in his debut season with the Dallas Mavericks. There's no arguing that.

But Dallas can't—and won't—give up last year's Sixth Man of the Year.

Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears says that Odom wanted a buyout last month, but didn't get it: "Odom sought a buyout from the Mavericks last month, but was rebuffed by owner Mark Cuban and general manager Donnie Nelson, a league source said."

A buyout probably seems like a good proposition, especially considering that Odom is averaging 7.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting an ugly 35 percent from the field and 59 percent from the line.

Those certainly weren't the stats Dallas thought they were getting when they traded for the former Laker.

The stats the Mavericks were probably hoping for were something close to the 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds on 53 percent shooting he recorded last year in Los Angeles.

Basically, he's playing about 50 percent as well as he did last year. Yikes.

Still, it isn't time to give up on Odom, because there is no point in dropping him for nothing. The ceiling on the 32-year-old's ability is just too high.

If the Mavericks are going to make a deep playoff run, Odom is going to have to be a big part of their bench. He's a power forward who gives you good size on the inside, but his versatility, shooting and ability to take the ball up the court are what can make him truly special.

He certainly isn't providing those things right now, but it's hard to fill what he can potentially do.

Now that the Mavericks have refused to buy Odom out, look at the worst-case scenario. He's not going to play any worse. If he keeps up his current pace, the Mavericks will stay right where they are.

They've managed to find a way to get themselves into sixth place in the West with Odom stinking up the place, so things can't possibly get any worse, barring an injury.

In the best-case scenario, however, Lamar Odom remembers how to play. He finds that passion that he played with last year, and he reverts to the best sixth man in the league. The chances of that are slim, but if it does happen, the Mavericks are once again one of the best teams in the West.

Not many teams have that type of potential wasting away on the bench.

So, while watching Lamar Odom play may make you want to poke your eyes out, it's just not worth it to let him go for nothing. It would be the classic example of giving up too early, because there are still plenty of ways he can help this team.

If he doesn't pan out, oh well.

The only direction the Mavericks can go from here is up. Well, that or sideways.