Lamar Odom – 6th man

I see where this articles are coming from, but honestly: can you imagine Lamar Odom as a 6th man? It depends…

Lamar is a great player. A guy averaging 15+ points, 8.9 rebounds, 4+ assists plus 1 steal & 1 block a game has talent. No doubt about it. His versatility is his biggest strength…but let’s see what type of 6th man really get noticed. Speaking about 6th men we think of players like Ginobili, Barbosa, Jason Terry and so on. We are talking about scorers. Sure, Ginobili gets two or three assists a game, but mostly by taking the ball to the rim and kicking it out to a shooter. Barbosa? Pure scorer. The Jet? Scorer. See where I’m going?

Is Lamar a scorer? Not really, but that isn’t a bad thing. His rebounding numbers could go up by being a 6th man, because he would be on the court with the opponent’s 2nd unit more often. Assists? Well, I guess he would play in crunch time, but when he is on the court with the Lakers bench…he would definitely improve their off the bench scoring.

I think that Lamar Odom can be a good 6th man, because he can do everything on the court, but I don’t think that making him a 6th man will improve the Lakers overall. The way the Lakers play, either Kobe or Lamar are on the court anyway. Who would take the starting spot? Ariza or Walton? Well, Ariza is a good defender and Walton has some skills and court vision.

Keeping Lamar in the starting five means better rebounding. Making him a 6th man means improving their 2nd unit. What is better for the Lakers? Whatever they do, they will be a top 2 team in the West. That is enough time to figure out what is better come playoff time.