Agents, Free Agents & Money = Disaster
Courtesy of sofiak111 from WebShots.com
I really hate this time of year when basketball and football isn’t in season. Sorry baseball fans, but I just can’t watch a whole game unless I am there in person.
Well, what I really hate is the free agent period. It flat out sucks. Its all about money. Agents only have their interests in mind and advise players poorly. Players get caught in the media frenzy about how much they should make or where they should go, instead of making their own educated decisions.
Case and point: Lamar Odom. Lamar is in his basketball prime and he has a good offer from the Lakers to stay with his championship team. I know it isn’t as high as his asking price but who has 10 plus million to offer Lamar? I can’t think of a team willing to pay him more than the mid-level exception since everyone is cutting costs and saving money for next year’s free agent class. This mean the Lakers are willingly to pay him about 3 million more than any other team, but he scoffs at the idea. His agent should be jumping for joy and telling him to sign, even maybe asking for more incentives; instead he decides to advise Lamar to wait. Well this is sad and poor advice.
What is to stop Jerry Buss from taking the offer off the table? Nothing! Jerry is known not to take crap from players that offer little in return. I am not saying Lamar isn’t a good player but if you think about it, Jerry will be spending 16 million a year to keep Lamar under league salary cap rules.
Quite frankly he isn’t worth that much!
Lamar has a habit of not playing every game and every Laker fan knows this. I really do like the guy and feel he is important in our quest to repeat. Lamar, if you are reading this, please consider the Laker offer and quit listening to your agent. I know it isn’t as much money as you would like but look at it from an overall perspective. Jerry is willing to pay 16 million total to keep you and you have another chance to win a title. This is a whole lot better than a few extra bucks that you probably can pick up through extra incentives.
