Here are a few lines from an Associated Press story from Miami: “The Miami Heat, who traded Odom to the Lakers five years ago in the trade that brought Shaquille O’Neal(notes) to South Florida, have made the free agent forward an offer to return and help Dwyane Wade once again. The team has not revealed terms of the offer, although it’s believed to be a five-year package that could be worth around $35 million.”

Wade, who was a rookie when Odom played his one and only season in Miami in 2003-04, told the AP in a telephone interview: “I want Lamar to do what’s best for him and his family because we love him as family, but on the other hand, we want him back home, to come home. His house is still there. It’d be exciting to see what happens.”

Wade also told the AP he doesn’t need to call Odom in order to recruit him.

“Lamar already knows how I feel,” Wade said. “I really don’t know how to feel. He’s really taken time to deal with it, sit back. It’s a very important decision in his life. It could be about where he ends his career. … Lamar and I always had a great relationship. He’s always been the guy, one of the guys, that I thought really helped me as a young player.”