The Los Angeles Lakers have had a big makeover of their roster after Dwight Howard left for the Houston Rockets and now that Lamar Odom has been dealing with drug issues, it appears that he isn't an option to join the team, but according to reports, the club is still open to signing him.
According to Perez Hilton, Odom still could have a chance to sign with the Lakers, as sources said to the website that GM Mitch Kupchak would be willing to sign him, but only under certain conditions, including that the former Lakers star enters rehab. Odom was with the team back when they were winning championships and he won a sixth man award one year, but after being traded to the Dallas Mavericks, things went badly for Odom and after playing for the Clippers last year, the team opted not to re-sign him and signed Antawn Jamison.
The report says that the source said that the Buff family and the Lakers feel that he is a part of the team family as a former champion and that they want to help him and that if he has treatment, they still would be open to signing him. The Clippers opted to go in another direction and sources in the article also report that Odom doesn't think that he needs rehab. The quote says that Odom is resisting going into treatment and that he feels he can make it through training camp and can kick the habit on his own.
The Lakers won just 45 games last season while dealing with the Dwight Howard saga and after Kobe Bryant was injured the team faltered and ended up being swept out by the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs in the first round, losing all four games. Last season the team ranked sixth in the league with 102 points scored per game and were 22nd ranked in defense and fourth in rebounding and adding Odom could add some depth to the roster if he cleans himself up.