With rumors surfacing over the last few weeks regarding a potential return to the Los Angeles Lakers for veteran forward Lamar Odom, there is one technicality that might end up making the reunion between the two sides nothing more than an unrealistic fantasy for Lakers fans.

That would be the NBA’s new rule that prohibits players from returning to their old teams as free agents less than a calendar year after that team has dealt them away in a trade.

As the postseason embarks upon its final stage, many have probably forgotten about the messy labor dispute that was not resolved until December, thus shortening the regular season campaign to a compacted 66 game schedule.

Once the new collective bargaining agreement was finally agreed upon, this new rule concerning the actual freedom of these free agents was implemented so that they would not simply be able to negotiate buyouts of their contracts with their new teams – as they so often did in salary cap-based trades – and rejoin their previous squad only a month later.

In a move that was heavily scrutinized at the time, the Lakers traded Odom to the Dallas Mavericks on December 11^th for a first round draft pick. Los Angeles would go on to send that pick to the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline in the deal that gave them long-time Laker guard Derek Fisher in exchange for forward Jordan Hill.

Odom, 32, immediately demanded that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak trade him after Commissioner David Stern rescinded a blockbuster three-team deal between the Lakers, Rockets and the then-owned New Orleans Hornets that would have had him playing in the Big Easy.

Plagued by a rough offseason filled with personal issues that were non-basketball related, Odom did not appear to give the Mavs a whole-hearted effort this season. Averaging only 6.6 points per game, he had the worst scoring season of his career and was deactivated by Dallas with about a month remaining.

Having been a Laker since being acquired from the Miami Heat in the 2004 Shaquille O’Neal trade, many believe that Odom left his heart in Los Angeles, which may have also played a major role in his dreadful stint with the defending world champion Mavs.

The popular belief is that Dallas will buy out Odom sometime this month for $2.4 million, making him an unrestricted free agent. But despite the fact that he would be eligible to return to the Lakers on December 11^th – that is, if the chatter is true and both sides are willing to try things out again – sources close to Odom say he would not be willing to miss about six weeks of action leading up to then, which would shut the door on the discussion before it could ever even really open.

In seven seasons with the Lakers, Odom averaged 13.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. He was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in his final season with the team and was also a major contributor to their back-to-back NBA Finals victories over the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

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The “Linsanity” that has taken the Knicks, New York, and the NBA by storm sounds like something out of a movie. The underdog who no one gave a shot finally gets it and doesn’t disappoint. It is of course normal for people to be skeptical – how many times have we seen someone take everyone by surprise only to plummet back to Earth, never able to recapture the run they had. However, Jeremy Lin is not one of these stories; he is the real deal.

Lin has single handedly saved Mike D’Antoni’s job and the Knicks’ season in a five game span. Add to that, he’s doing it with a roster missing All-Stars Amare Stoudemire (family death) and Carmelo Anthony (injured groin), making things even more amazing.

He’s been doing this all week with a starting lineup that consisted of Landry Fields, Bill Walker, Jared Jeffries, and Tyson Chandler. He’s turned Steve Novak, who has been buried on the Knicks bench all season, into a legitimate bench scoring threat, finding him open for threes multiple times a game.

Lin was exactly what the Knicks needed and hoped Baron Davis could be when he returned. A true point guard. During this five game win streak, Lin has been breaking down defenses with his dribble and quickness, shown a very good ability to run the pick and roll, as well as proven that he can knock down jumpers if left open.

Take a look at his numbers over the Knicks’ longest win streak this season. Lin is averaging 26.8 points on 53% shooting, eight assists, 4.2 rebounds, two steals. Impressive numbers for anyone over a five game stretch, but what’s more impressive is who he has done it against.

Lin has squared off against Deron Williams, Devin Harris, John Wall, Derek Fisher, and Ricky Rubio. We are talking about a bonafide superstar, the prospect traded for that superstar, a number one pick, a good defensive veteran, and this years leading candidate for rookie of the year. While in the case of Wall and Williams, they don’t exactly have the interior that would scare anybody, the other three have extremely formidable front-courts which still couldn’t prevent Lin’s penetration.

Lin has scored more points in his first four starts than anyone else since the merger back in the 70s. That means more than Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and yes, even LeBron James.

While the Knicks won’t need Lin to keep carrying the scoring load once Stoudemire and Anthony return, what they will need is for him to control the offense and continue to find the open man in their spots. What his scoring ability will do is open the offensive end up even more as defenses will have to respect that ability.

It has only been five games and four starts into the “Lincredible” streak, but if you watch the way Lin plays you know that the kid is the real deal. Even against Rubio who gave Lin a hard time defensively all night, he was still able to run the pick and roll and find the open man.

At the end of the game, when it mattered most, Lin was able to find a wide open Novak for the game tying three, and then use his quickness to draw a foul and hit the go-ahead foul shot to seal the game.

A sign of a good player, especially the point guard, is the ability to elevate the play of not only himself, but his teammates as well and Lin has exceeded this on every level imaginable. Lin was said to have been watching video in the locker room at halftime during a game because he was upset with his inability to get as many alley-oops to Chandler. No one could have expected this and no one saw it coming but the Knicks have potentially stumbled onto something great.

They will continue to ride this out for as long as it lasts, which looks like could be quite a long time. One thing definitely is for sure though, things in New York have gotten “Linsane” and this team and fan base have gotten a much need injection of excitement.

It has been quite some time Knicks fans, but it now looks like you have a team that can make some noise in the playoffs, and an underdog rising star whom you can rally around. It’s official New York, you have a true point guard and a basketball team worth watching so enjoy it.

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In the wee hours of Saturday morning, the National Basketball Players Association and team owners came to a tentative agreement to end the NBA Lockout.

After a 15 hour negotiation session high ranking officials Derek Fisher, Billy Hunter, David Stern, Adam Silver, Maurice Evans, and Peter Holt emerged to address the press. For the first time since the lockout began on July 1, 149 days ago, they were able to deliver encouraging news.

The season is set to begin on December 25 with a triple header, possibly featuring the teams that were originally scheduled to play on Christmas. The matchups include the New York Knicks vs the Boston Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks vs the Miami Heat, and the Chicago Bulls vs the Los Angeles Lakers.

This would be the start of a compressed 66 game season. Training camps would start December 9 with a two week free agency also starting on December 9. While details are still fuzzy as to how this agreement was reached, what is known is that compromises were made by both sides.

The players are set to receive a 49 and 51 “band” percent of basketball related income (BRI), down from the 57 percent that they received under the last collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The players could lose almost 200 million dollars over the 10 years that deal is scheduled for.

The players’ cut is on a sliding scale based on league performance. If BRI exceeds projections, the players receive 60.5 percent of that incremental revenue. If BRI fails to meet projections, the players receive 60.5 percent less of the amount by which BRI falls short. The players’ BRI range can never fall below 49 percent or go above 51 percent.The players did gain some ground in the negotiations as both sides agreed not to institute a hard salary cap.

With the exclusion of hard salary caps, one monumental issue where clarity is still lacking is the exactly how the luxury tax system is going to work under the new CBA. The luxury tax is in place to punish teams that exceed the salary cap by forcing teams to pay the NBA one dollar for every dollar that a team has gone over the limit. The tax also serves as a deterrent to prevent teams with deep pockets from buying all the available talent and ensure fair competition.

However, it has failed to produce positive results, as teams like the Los Angeles Lakers were 30 million over the cap last year. There is speculation that the new luxury tax would force teams to pay up a 3-1 ratio for every dollar they go over the cap. At a 3-1 ratio the punishment would be far harsher and encourage the fair play that small market teams have clamored over for years.

While all of this news seems encouraging, there is no guarantee that the season will actually start on Christmas. There are still important issues that need to be hammered out and voted on by the membership of both parties. Fans of the NBA can only hope that both sides can truly reach an agreement and give the best Christmas present of all.

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After yet another futile attempt by both the owners and players unions to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, the remainder of the NBA Preseason has been canceled, and, barring any miraculous agreement on Monday, the first two weeks of the regular season are next in line.

Following a four-hour meeting between the players and owners on Tuesday, commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver took the stand to announce the bad news to the press.

“The formal position of the parties was the players at 53 [percent], us at 47,” said commissioner Stern in a televised press conference. “We asked the question of the players, ‘would each side entertain the notion of a 50-50 deal?’… While we were in the process of doing that [discussing] with our owners, we were asked to step out and we were advised by the players that that would not be acceptable to them; that they were at a higher number.”

“Today we’ll be announcing the cancellation of the rest of the exhibition season, and by Monday, we will have no choice but to cancel the first two weeks of the season.”

For those of you who don’t know the formalities of the ongoing NBA Lockout, the owners and players are waging war over who receives more of all basketball related income, as well as other minor issues. The players, who were once at a whopping 57 percent, came down to 53 percent, but refused to split the pot in half with the owners.

“We’re continuing to be open-minded about what a final deal will look like, but today was not the day to try and continue to close that type of gap,” said Derek Fisher, the president of the NBA player’s union. “It’s just not a place we feel we can go, but that doesn’t mean we’re not willing to negotiate. We’re not saying that negotiations are over, but in the forseeable future, obviously until another meeting is possibly canceled, we’re just not sure at this point.”

With the 2011-2012 NBA season looking more indefinite than ever, players are in a frenzy to head overseas and make money while staying in shape by playing basketball for foreign teams.

“The biggest thing is that I didn’t know how the lockout was going to turn out,” said Nuggets’ Forward Wilson Chandler, who recently signed a contract to play in China. “I just wanted to play so I can get a better game shape, a better game rhythm.”

And the list goes on and on, with players like Deron Williams, J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Andrei Kirilenko, to name a few, heading overseas as well. There are even talks of the Black Mamba himself, Kobe Bryant, possibly entertaining a 10-game/$3 million contract from an unspecified Italian team.

The NBA is quickly losing its talent—the one thing that puts it a single notch over the increasingly convalescent international teams. With many players signing contracts without opt-out clauses, returning to the NBA won’t even be an option until they play their agreed amount of games overseas.

Commissioner Stern alluded to the fact that the owners had already lost $200 million in revenue by canceling preseason games. Unless the owners want to continue losing egregious amounts of money, an agreement in the very near future is imminent.

 
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