Free Agency

Over the weekend I was hanging out with my buddy Warren. We were flipping through channels, and we happened to catch some short interview clips of soon-to-be free agents Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, and Shannon Brown. Lamar and Shannon said all the right things, about wanting to come back, how the team was very good, competing to win another title, et cetera. On the other hand, Trevor said something interesting, which confused me momentarily. When we flipped to the channel, the Trevor clip was already playing. He said "...we have a great organization, they have a great organization." For a second I thought he was referring to another team, who had perhaps already expressed interest in him. Why did he feel the need to change his reference to the Lakers, from "we" to "they"?

I have an idea. There are people in Trevor's life, perhaps his agent, perhaps his friends and family, who are giving him advice. This advice figures to help him get him (and them of course) the best possible situation this off season. And what is that situation? It is Trevor staying with the Lakers, while making the most money possible - pretty logical. He's an LA boy, has friends and family here. There are lot of people who would benefit from Trevor getting the big payday from LA.

Due to this, someone slipped into Trevor's head that "Hey. You want the Lakers to want you. Don't do what Lamar did, saying you like beach cities only. Make the Lakers think you might leave, so they give you more money." So naturally, his reaction when referring to his current team was "we". But that previous piece of advice lit up in his brain, and he corrected his statement to "they".

Nice try Trevor. You thought that little slip would get past my eagle eyed analysis didn't you. I'm still of the opinion that resigning Lamar is more important, from a competitive standpoint. The only trumping argument in Ariza's favor is his age - only 23! But honestly, I think we have a much better chance of winning now, with Kobe, Pau and Lamar, than later on with Jordan, Trevor and Bynum. The over under on those latter three's combined all star appearances: 1.5? Hell, I might take the under on 0.5.