Oh the drama of the NBA...in Lakerland

The first week of the NBA is over. Free agency officially started last Friday and this shorten season proved to be just as drama filled as the season's past.

As of Sunday, the Lakers are officially out of the Chris Paul trade hunt. The NBA, aka David Stern, rejected a trade that would of sent Paul to the purple and gold in a three team deal. The New Orleans Hornets would of received Lamar Odom from the Lakers and Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic and a 2012 first round draft pick from the Houston Rockets. For the Rockets, they would receive Pau Gasol from the Lakers. The Hornets would of made out better than the other two teams. The Lakers would of landed a top five point guard, but the loss of Gasol and Odom would of weakened the Lakers front line, that they still wouldn't of been a championship team. The Hornets would of had three automatic started and could be All-Stars. But that deal fell through when David Stern cited basketball reasons to reject the trade.

Lamar Odom. Photo from sports.gather.com

Then on Saturday, he came out with a statement saying that the Hornets would of been better off with Paul in a Hornets jersey than accepting that trade. With the rejection of the trade, the entire league went into an uproar, stating their disgust with how he vetoed the trade. But the trade is now in the past and the Lakers have to move on. To extent, the trade being vetoed was a blessing in disguise. The Lakers were able to keep to their size and not empty their team for Paul. But the trade also backfired. Odom was so hurt by the fact that the Lakers wanted to trade him without letting him know, he asked to be traded. He met with Mitch Kupchak on Friday instead of practising with the team. As of Sunday night, Odom has been officially traded to the defending Champions and team that swept the Lakers last year, the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs now have a trio of fowards that could rank as the best trio in the league- Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, and Odom. This move hurts the Lakers. Odom was a very effective player, one that the entire team enjoyed playing with. Even Kobe was upset with this trade. On media day at the Lakers facility, Kobe said he "was pissed off" by this move, but he hoped management knew what they were doing. But Odom didn't want to be somewhere where he didn't feel wanted. All the Lakers got for Odom was a 2012 draft pick, which will most likely be in the high 20s, and a one year player trade exception.

There were rumors going around that this trade could help the Lakers land Dwight Howard, but the player trade exception isn't big enough to take on Hedo Turkoglu's contract. Plus Orlando wants both Gasol and Bynum, which would deplete the Lakers front line so much, even a team with Kobe Bryant and Howard couldn't win a championship, unless they could find some other guy that could like - like a Robert Horry or Rick Fox. J.A. Adande, NBA analyst, said that the Lakers might of made this move to make Odom happy after upsetting him and that they could use the player trade exception to sign a younger player who could play center and help fill the void of a back up center. If the Lakers keep both Gasol and Bynum, they would just need a guy to come in and play 15 maybe even 20 minutes of solid effort, crashing the boards on both ends of the court and maybe even put a few points on the score board.

Ronny Turiaf. Photo from Sports Illustrated 

The idea of a guy like Ronny Turiaf, who was drafted and played with the Lakers for a couple seasons, could be a nice fit on this team. He knows the players and he could fill the energy gap that is left for Odom. Turiaf was traded from the New York Knicks to the Washington Wizards to make room for Tyson Chandler. It has yet to be seen if the Wizards are going to keep Turiaf or if they will look to cut him free or trade him. The Wizards do have a log jam at the power forward/center position with the likes of Rashard Lewis, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee, Trevor Booker and recently drafted Jan Vesely. If they do look to trade or release him, the Lakers should look into him. Is he Dwight Howard, no, but with Gasol and Bynum, the Lakers only need a back up to help rest them.

The Lakers also have their "mini mid-level" exception that could be used on a center or better yet, a power foward to take the spot for the now traded Odom. As for the point guard position, something the Lakers were trying to fix with bringing in Paul, there are a few older, veteran players that have been released from their teams that could take a veteran minimum contract and still bring a lot to the team. Chauncey Billups is the biggest name of this list. He said he wants to go to a championship ready team and not waste his time as being part of a rebuilding effort. That is understandable, he only has a few years left at the quality he has been playing. Another play, who is a free agent, is Delonte West. He would be a step up from Steve Blake and could play both positions at the guard. He was coached by Mike Brown, so he would be comfortable with the system.

Odom is going to be missed, that is a cold hard fact that the Lakers have yet to really grasp. The players already know what Odom brings to the team and what is going to be missed with him gone. The answers of who will play the back up power forward and center positions and if there will be another point guard brought in to help out only can be answered by the Lakers front office, who probably don't have the answers yet.