According to some reports, Lamar Odom is seriously considering leaving the Lakers to sign with the Heat.  If that happens, the Lakers and their fans will regret it.  As I have pointed out on more than one occasion, Odom and (Pau Gasol) are almost criminally underrated when considering the Lakers' success.  With the way the Lakers are covered you would think they were Kobe Bryant and four stiffs, when in reality Gasol and Odom are two of the best secondary players in the NBA that have each experienced sucess previously as a main option.  With the Gasol/Odom frontcourt starting together, the Lakers win at about an 85|PERCENT| clip and that was the main line-up on their championship squad.  Odom dominated the on-court/off-court +/- stats for the Lakers last year, with the Lakers outscoring their opponents by 14.2 points/48 minutes with Odom on the court and getting outscored by 2.0 points with him on the bench (team leading +16.2 net).

Odom has often been maligned by Lakers fans and analysts for not living up to his potential.  "He has the proverbial million-dollar game and 10-cent head", they say.  "He can't be relied upon to produce consistently," they say.  "He has first option talent but fourth option mentality," they say.  Well, here's what I say: if the Lakers let Lamar Odom walk, they will  not repeat.  And as a side note, the Heat would all of a sudden get a lot more interesting in the East.