Riley expresses interest in Odom

Miami team president Pat Riley hasn't spoken to South Florida reporters since the NBA draft on June 25, but he took time to talk with Heat season ticket holders Thursday night. Some of what was said about courting Lamar Odom was picked up by our friends at the Sun-Sentinel. According to a reporter for the Ft. Launderdale newspaper:

"What was made clear in Riley's private session was that the Heat's interest in re-acquiring forward Lamar Odom from the Lakers is legitimate, with numbers being discussed that would approach the current Lakers' free-agent offer that Odom has rejected, when accounting for Florida's lack of state income tax and other options regarding payments."

The Heat can offer Odom the mid-level exception, which works out to about $34 million over five seasons. It's the same deal Ron Artest signed with the Lakers and Trevor Ariza took to replace Artest with the Houston Rockets.