Lamar Odom's Salary Part II: I went to the expert to get a more complete breakdown on Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom's salary. Cap guru Larry Coon was happy to oblige:

Odom signed a contract in the summer of 2003 with the Miami HEAT at a base salary of $58.5 million. In the original deal was a signing bonus of $5,781,576. According to the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, signing bonuses are amortized over the life of the contract. In this case, Odom's signing bonus counts on the cap an extra $963,596 - each and every year of his deal.

(One technical note - bonuses are not amortized over option years - player, team or ETO. In Lamar's case this is immaterial).

Odom also benefited from a $7.425 million trade bonus when he was traded to the Lakers in 2004. That too is spread out over each year of his deal (except 2003/4 which was before the trade) - even though the money was paid up front. His trade bonus adds an additional $1.485 million to the cap each year.

To break it all down, Odom received $9 million base salary from Miami plus the entire $5,781,576 signing bonus for a total of $14,781,576 in his first and only year with the HEAT (2003/4). This manipulation from Miami was to discourage the Los Angeles Clippers from matching their offer sheet (Odom was a restricted free agent). The actual cap number for the HEAT that season was just $9,963,596.

In 2004/5, Odom earned a base salary of $8.1 million from the Lakers but received the additional $7.425 trade bonus in a lump sum - making a total of $15.525 million in his first year with the team. Lamar's cap number was significantly lower at $10,548,596 which included $963,596 and $1.485 for his two bonuses.

Those bonus numbers remain constant over the final four years of his deal, adding an additional $2,448,596 to his cap number - with the extra monies paid out in 2003 and 2004.

For the coming 2008/9 season, Odom's base salary is in fact $11.7 million - the amount the Lakers are actually on hook for. His cap number, with the two bonuses factored in, is $14,148,596.

Should Odom be traded at any point before the February deadline - his trade value would be $14.1 million instead of the $11.7 million base salary.

Lamar Odom the Player: So what exactly is up with Odom and the Lakers? It seems like Coach Phil Jackson has chosen Lamar to be the preseason "whipping boy" as he tries to find a way to get the most out the enigmatic forward.

Jackson wouldn't call Odom's play in the team's first preseason game "basketball." Instead he likened Lamar's play to "curling or doing some other kind of sport."

Additionally Jackson has discussed starting forward Trevor Ariza, moving Odom to the bench. In the meantime he may remain a starter - but at point guard instead of small forward. Jackson also criticized Odom for not working to improve his game over the offseason (opting instead to rest and heal from tendinitis).

The Lakers are trying to fit Odom into an evolving roster that features center Andrew Bynum, power forward Pau Gasol and star guard/forward Kobe Bryant. Jackson generally prefers to play Bryant at small forward to take advantage of the attack position in the triangle offense - which could minimize Odom's role even further.

If Odom doesn't work at the point - and isn't a big contributor off the bench - perhaps the Lakers look to move him. Odom's contract expires this summer and a number of teams have already expressed interest.

To date - the Lakers are hesitant to let go of such a versatile player especially when he's Gasol's primary back up at power forward. Newcomer Josh Powell has had a strong camp. If the Lakers can get a consistent 15-20 mpg out of Powell, Odom may be expendable.

The Catch: There isn't much beyond speculation on the rumor front as far as who the Lakers would want for Odom. While a number of options are sure to come up throughout the season, the financial implications of trading Odom could be prohibitive.

One player the Lakers have been rumored to like for a long time is Chicago Bulls point guard Kirk Hinrich. While there isn't any reason to think discussions are active on that front, to understand the economics, let's assume a deal could be fashioned for Lamar Odom (other players could be throw-ins to make salaries match like Chris Mihm, Cedric Simmons, Drew Gooden, etc., but that's outside the scope of this discussion for the moment).

Hinrich is set to earn $10 million this coming season (plus incentives). He has a unique contract that progressively decreases over the next three seasons ($9.5, $9.0 and $8.0 million respectively). For a starting caliber point guard, that may be reasonable but would that salary work within the Lakers' budget?

With Kobe Bryant (assuming he either doesn't opt out, or does so and re-signs), Andrew Bynum (who is expected to get a massive extension that would kick in next year) and Pau Gasol, the Lakers could have ~$53 million invested in just three players.

Add in four players making between $4.8 and $6.5 million (Vladimir Radmanovic, Sasha Vujacic, Derek Fisher and Luke Walton), Jordan Farmar ($1.9 million) plus a few bodies to round out the roster and the team's payroll climbs ever higher.

Trevor Ariza is a free agent next summer. If he proves to be as valuable as the Lakers hope this season, he could be set to earn a new deal in the $5 million range.

Add in Hinrich's $9.5 million and the team's salary could hit $94 million BEFORE accounting for a $21 million luxury tax hit. Would Dr. Jerry Buss consider shelling out $115 million in payroll - even for a championship caliber team?

Certainly the Lakers could look to shed salary but Fisher and Vujacic are likely to stay, and neither Radmanovic nor Walton has the kind of contract other teams are readily willing to acquire.

Trading Odom for long-term salary may be prohibitive for the Lakers, but so too could re-signing him. Lamar is likely to want at least as much as what Hinrich is paid - probably more.

There is a reasonable chance that the Lakers simply let him play out his contract and leave in free agency, opting instead to build around the ever-improving Odom-less core.

Take the theoretical Hinrich salary (or a new Odom deal) out of the equation and the team's salary drops to about $96 million (including tax). Remove Ariza and the Lakers' payroll could be closer to $86 million in total.

The burden falls upon Dr. Buss to green light what could be the league's highest payroll next season. On paper a Hinrich for Odom deal might make a lot of sense for the Lakers in that they get a steady, two-way point guard on a reasonable (but not inexpensive) three-year deal.

Additionally there's no sense at this point the Bulls will be willing to make such a deal. Fantasy GM's - substitute another player in Odom's stead - the financial quandary remains the same.

It's no wonder the team raised ticket prices, especially when season ticket holders are willing to renew at a 99% clip.

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get a prospect or quality PG for him any other team will get alot out of Odom Phil's stupid system is the reason Odom is so infective for the lakers no real use for him here unless hes a back up for Gasol in case something happens to Bynum or Gasol just get something for him.

Even as a backup, I don't feel the triangle is the offense for Lamar. I really feel that if you get Lamar in an uptempo game, that's where he shines.

how about marion?

how many times is this going to be discussed. Odom will not be traded for a straight up salary swap ie player for player, we cant afford a marion or a ak47. If and its a big if, we trade him we would either have to push for a odom/rad odom/walton trade in return for a player of 10mill range and the rest in either expiring contracts, draft picks or cash considerations or a combo of all 3. Or let him expire and throw some money at someone like artest in free agency. Last option we sign kobe or bynum or both for less than expected and we can offer odom something like 8-9mill in a new contract