Blazers interested in Odom?
Some seriously conflicted reports out of Portland in the last few days about the Trail Blazers' level of interest in Lamar Odom. By one account, the Blazers have zero interest in any free agents now that Hedo Turkoglu has spurned them for the Toronto Raptors. By another, the Blazers are ending their pursuit of the Knicks' David Lee and focusing on Odom. The Blazers have about $7 million or so in cap room, which might not be enough to sign Odom. The Lakers can sign Odom for whatever owner Jerry Buss is willing to pay, although there are indications that might only be around $7 million or so. Stay tuned.
Blazers offered Hedo $50M/5 years, which is presumably replicable for LO. So don't think they're stuck at the $7M figure, if KP decided to go for it, the number would be closer to $10M.
That said, all indications are that the Blazers realize that LAL will just match and that they are focusing on an unequal trade, which they have up until the trade deadline to execute.