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A few thoughts and a couple of poll questions on the re-signing of Lamar Odom- anyone who frequents this space knows I believe the Lakers had to bring him back, whether based on the metrics or team chemistry issues (You remember the whole Ron Artest signing, right?)- before our traffic completely dies  off...

• The terms, reported by ESPN.com to be worth a guaranteed $27 million for Odom with the chance to up that figure to $33 mil, probably aren't what Odom hoped for when the summer began, but in this market represent a solid deal for both sides.  Odom stays in LA, playing for the team with which he best fits in a city he loves at a healthy salary, while the Lakers keep a vital cog without going overboard in their commitment. As John Hollinger has noted throughout the offseason, the team option for a contract's final year is a piece of financial sleight-of-hand that effectively means should things go horribly wrong- not that I'm counting on it- in or before year three, LA misses out on Odom's production but gains a potentially valuable expiring deal after two seasons. 
• More Hollinger, on what the Lakers would have missed without LO (Insider required):  "This was the opening teams like San Antonio and Portland hoped to exploit with their own huge frontcourts, feeling they could wear down L.A. with their size rather than the other way around. This was the match-up issue that teams like Denver wanted to go away, with Odom frequently creating dilemmas for the Nugget bench. This was the depth New Orleans hoped wouldn't be a factor, removing the frontcourt game of 3-against-2 they faced every time last year. This was the guy Dallas hoped wouldn't be on the floor when they unleashed their five-greyhound lineup in fourth quarters and could run Gasol and Bynum into submission. And this was the ball-handling perimeter player that nobody in Utah's macho frontcourt trio could cover..."  And that's just in the W.C.  Given what Orlando, Boston, and Cleveland have done this summer, retaining Odom was that much more important. 
• Personally, I don't see why fans would hold the negotiating process against him, but I'm curious to see if others agree (see poll below). I figure by training camp, any lingering controversy will have blown over. 
• The process was painfully and perhaps unnecessarily drawn out, but at least we got a good acronym out of it. '
• Odom's presence absolutely mitigates the risk inherent in five years of Ron Artest.
• It can now be said that the Lakers had an outstanding offseason. 

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