At Least They Have Chance for Something Big

If we were talking about any franchise other than the Clippers this would be a time for unrestrained celebration.

They managed to land Lamar Odom, widely considered the most talented player in the NBA draft, with the No. 4 pick Wednesday night.

A reminder: It’s the Clippers. So instead of saying “What a steal!” or “What a coup!” the natural reaction is “What can go wrong?”

The main reason they had the chance to take Odom was his erratic behavior. He skipped everything from the mandatory physical exam at the NBA’s pre-draft camp a couple of weeks ago to the media session Tuesday.

He has never been settled. He switched from high school to high school, wandered across the nation searching for a college to attend, wavered after making his decision to leave Rhode Island early and tried to go back to school even after he signed with an agent, whom he subsequently dropped.

The only reason he was in the draft was because the NCAA said he had to go, the only reason he was available to the Clippers was the first three teams had doubts. Those aren’t compelling reasons.

Then again, he’s 6 feet 10, can handle the ball, sink three-point shots and post up. That’s like finding a car that is roomy, fast and gets good mileage.

And let’s make an important distinction: He didn’t run afoul of the law. His problems were with the NCAA, not the police department. This isn’t a Lawrence Phillips or Randy Moss situation here (although a Moss-like season would be welcomed).

Odom doesn’t have a reputation for a bad attitude or being impossible to coach. He just can’t make up his mind and can’t commit.

“The mistakes he made were indecision,” Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor said. “He was not sure what he really wanted to do. There was really no one he could probably just turn to, a father figure image or somebody he could really turn to to spend time talking to to know what decision to make.”

Maybe Odom is always looking for the next place to go because home never really was home. His father hasn’t lived with him since he was 6 and his mother died of cancer when he was 12, leaving Odom’s grandmother to raise him.

And maybe all the indecision will stop now that he has reached his ultimate destination, the NBA.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do anything,” Odom said of his minimal participation in pre-draft events. “I was going through a time when I was having trouble with my representation. I was really uncomfortable with a lot of things. That’s behind me, and the future is now.”

That sounded good enough for the Clippers.

So they took a chance. In their position, they might as well. They can’t afford not to dare. They must avoid being more than just an undercard for the other tenants at the Staples Center, the Lakers and Kings.

The safe pick would have been Wally Szczerbiak, the guy with a solid background, a strong 6-7 body and a steady jump shot. Taking Szczerbiak would mean no regrets; he can average 15 points a game in this league for a long time to come.

There was doubt about Szczerbiak’s athletic ability. Please. I was sitting courtside when he scored 43 points in an NCAA tournament game against Washington and he had no trouble getting off his shot, no trouble guarding his man.

The man can play. He just doesn’t have superstar potential. Odom does. And Odom dropped into the Clippers’ lap.

Sometimes the Clippers are better off when the decision is taken out of their hands. Their lowest pick in the previous six drafts resulted in their best player last season: Maurice Taylor, taken at No. 14 in 1997.

Every time the Clippers have had a lottery pick they have managed to miss at least one player taken later that has had a better career than their pick. To recap: Benoit Benjamin vs. Chris Mullin, Reggie Williams vs. Scottie Pippen, Danny Manning vs. Mitch Richmond, Danny Ferry vs. Glen Rice, Bo Kimble vs. Tyrone Hill, Lamond Murray vs. Brian Grant, Eddie Jones and Antonio McDyess (traded on draft day for Rodney Rogers) vs. Kevin Garnett, Lorenzen Wright vs. Kobe Bryant, Michael Olowokandi vs. Vince Carter.

If the Clippers’ pick had matched their 1999 season record they would have chosen second and things would have been really interesting on draft night.

Odom never looked like a good fit for the Chicago Bulls at No. 1 because he’s basically the same type of player as Toni Kukoc. At No. 2, the Clippers would have had to choose between the best player available at their weak point guard position, Steve Francis, hometown boy Baron Davis or Odom.

As it turned out, Francis went to Vancouver at No. 2, Davis to Charlotte at No. 3 (which is probably a better team for him anyway) and the Clippers only had to choose between Szczerbiak or Odom.

Safe, or potentially sorry.

At 19, Odom must grow up right now. It’s not just his fate in his hands anymore, it’s the future of a franchise.

The way we think of him will affect the way we think about the Clippers, and learn whether this was the start of something or just another wasted June night.

Of all the things Odom had to say, nothing sounded as good as this: “I’m not a loser. I’m not used to losing. I will never get used to losing, and I will never lose.”

J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com