Lamar Odom

Dear Mr. Lamar Odom and team,

We thank you giving us your time to talk about your future beyond this season in Orlando. We are aware that you have a player option for $9,600,000 and will choose what is best for you and your family.

With that said, we’ve ran a lot of different numbers and ways that things can play out over the years, taking into consideration both the organization’s needs and your needs as you try to maximize your earning potential in the free market.

Now sure, you could decline your option for next season and test the free agent market and be quite a hot commodity. And surely, we’d continue to try to retain your services as a high end, playmaking forward of this organization. According to our numbers, the maximum we’d be able to offer you is in the neighborhood of $96.8M over 5 years taking you through your age 32 season. A contract you’re surely deserving of.

However, we found a different path that may benefit both sides of this arrangement. We believe a beneficial route for both parties can be achieved if you accept an extension that comes with a raise for next season with a player option for the following season which includes an 8% bump. This extension would start in 2008 with at 120% rate of your salary for 2008 ($11,040,000) with an 8% increase for 2009 which would also be a player option.

After playing through the 2007 season, we can discuss another potential extension that would get you to 10 years of service where you can truly capitalize on the market and maximize your value as teams can offer up to 35% of the salary cap to you ($20,195,000 starting value). With your current career trajectory, we would expect you to test the waters as this is the only way you’d be able to maximize your earning potential if you wanted to stay in Orlando as well.

Let’s look at the bigger picture here, and assume the prime of your career goes according to plan. With our extension offer that gets you to a coveted service time to hit FA, you stand the chance to make over $150 million by the time you turn 35 years old. On the flip side, if you decided to opt out and chase a maximum offer in FA next offseason, we’d only be able to guarantee you $110 million through your age 32 season. We expect you to be a good player for many years to come but it comes down to your comfort level with leaving potentially $40 million on the table by hitting free agency again at age 33.

We understand it’s a business and you have to do what’s best for you. We believe we have a window for success here and think you believe that to. Signing this extension would go a long way towards both of us reaching our championship goals.

Offer:
Decline 2008 Player option
Sign 2 Year Extension
Year 1: $11,040,000 (120% of 2007 salary)
Year 2: $11,923,200 (8% Increase) (Player option)

Thank you for your time,
Swope
Orlando Magic GM

Jun 19, 2023 0:42:20 GMT -5 swope said:

Dear Mr. Lamar Odom and team,

We thank you giving us your time to talk about your future beyond this season in Orlando. We are aware that you have a player option for $9,600,000 and will choose what is best for you and your family.

With that said, we’ve ran a lot of different numbers and ways that things can play out over the years, taking into consideration both the organization’s needs and your needs as you try to maximize your earning potential in the free market.

Now sure, you could decline your option for next season and test the free agent market and be quite a hot commodity. And surely, we’d continue to try to retain your services as a high end, playmaking forward of this organization. According to our numbers, the maximum we’d be able to offer you is in the neighborhood of $96.8M over 5 years taking you through your age 32 season. A contract you’re surely deserving of.

However, we found a different path that may benefit both sides of this arrangement. We believe a beneficial route for both parties can be achieved if you accept an extension that comes with a raise for next season with a player option for the following season which includes an 8% bump. This extension would start in 2008 with at 120% rate of your salary for 2008 ($11,040,000) with an 8% increase for 2009 which would also be a player option.

After playing through the 2007 season, we can discuss another potential extension that would get you to 10 years of service where you can truly capitalize on the market and maximize your value as teams can offer up to 35% of the salary cap to you ($20,195,000 starting value). With your current career trajectory, we would expect you to test the waters as this is the only way you’d be able to maximize your earning potential if you wanted to stay in Orlando as well.

Let’s look at the bigger picture here, and assume the prime of your career goes according to plan. With our extension offer that gets you to a coveted service time to hit FA, you stand the chance to make over $150 million by the time you turn 35 years old. On the flip side, if you decided to opt out and chase a maximum offer in FA next offseason, we’d only be able to guarantee you $110 million through your age 32 season. We expect you to be a good player for many years to come but it comes down to your comfort level with leaving potentially $40 million on the table by hitting free agency again at age 33.

We understand it’s a business and you have to do what’s best for you. We believe we have a window for success here and think you believe that to. Signing this extension would go a long way towards both of us reaching our championship goals.

Offer:
Decline 2008 Player option
Sign 2 Year Extension
Year 1: $11,040,000 (120% of 2007 salary)
Year 2: $11,923,200 (8% Increase) (Player option)

Thank you for your time,
Swope
Orlando Magic GM

Thank you for taking the time to write all this up. As you astutely pointed out, Lamar is more likely than not to opt out of his $9,600,000 player option when the time comes. While you make valid points about the opportune times to hit the free agent market, it'd be naive to think that any team would view Lamar as a maximum contract guy, despite the improvements he's made over the past few seasons. On top of that, his projected role as a member of the Orlando Magic is not one that's particularly going to let him thrive in a way that will help him earn said maximum contract.

With all of that said, Lamar would debate the idea of a four-year extension (with player option) at the maximum number he could sign for right now -- the same contract you suggested but just with two years added on. Looking at the market this off-season, this would (rightfully) be a higher number than what Kenyon Martin got, but perhaps Lamar's versatility in playing both forward spots might even add more to his value. Before coming to a decision, it might make sense to figure out first if that offer is, in fact, on the table.

Thank you for your timely response. We’re not here to cause too much of a fuss when it comes to getting Lamar under contract in Orlando.

If Lamer feels inclined to accept, we would love to offer him the 4 year maximum extension that he desires, starting at 120% of his salary for this season with 8% increases for a total of four new seasons with the last year being a player option.

Thank you for your time and I hope we can come to an agreement as soon as possible!

Jun 19, 2023 19:19:47 GMT -5 swope said:

Thank you for your timely response. We’re not here to cause too much of a fuss when it comes to getting Lamar under contract in Orlando.

If Lamer feels inclined to accept, we would love to offer him the 4 year maximum extension that he desires, starting at 120% of his salary for this season with 8% increases for a total of four new seasons with the last year being a player option.

Thank you for your time and I hope we can come to an agreement as soon as possible!

After mulling the offer over, Lamar is happy to accept and looks forward to his future in Orlando.

Verdict: OFFER ACCEPTED

Full Terms: 4 years, $49,459,200 ($11,040,000 starting value) with a player option in the fourth year.