Heat Puts Clippers at Match Point

The Miami Heat on Monday signed restricted free-agent forward Lamar Odom to a long-delayed and much-anticipated offer sheet worth about $63 million over six seasons.

The Clippers have a league-mandated deadline of 15 days to match the offer, and there is every indication they will do so, making the Heat two-time losers against them in the free-agent derby this summer.

Last month, the Heat signed power forward Elton Brand to a six-year offer sheet worth $82 million. The Clippers took three days to match the offer, retaining their leading scorer and rebounder of the last two seasons.

The Clippers also matched the Utah Jazz’s six-year, $42-million offer sheet for swingman Corey Maggette. The team did not match the Denver Nuggets’ six-year, $51-million deal for point guard Andre Miller, but that decision was based on Miller’s play last season and not on economics.

The Heat’s lucrative offer to Odom is not expected to deter the Clippers from retaining him. The deal calls for $12 million to be paid to Odom before the season begins, with another $3 million due over the course of 2003-04. His base salary will be $8.5 million for the first season.

Nor are the negative comments Odom made about the Clippers to a Miami newspaper and an Internet site last week believed to be enough to prevent the team from matching the Heat’s offer.

“Today, we have received an offer sheet from Lamar Odom. We will evaluate this offer during the 15-day period, before announcing our decision,” Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor said in a statement released by the team.

The team also said, “During the 15-day period, the Clippers will neither be issuing daily status reports nor responding to daily inquiries. As much as we appreciate everybody’s interest, the team will make any announcements at the appropriate time.”

Odom had turned down the Clippers’ three-year, $24-million offer.

Mike Dunleavy, the Clippers’ new coach, said last week he expected to have Odom on the roster this season and would push him to become a better player and a bigger asset to teammates. Dunleavy said he might use Odom in a point-forward role in order to make better use of his skills as a passer.

Andy Roeser, the team’s executive vice president, said in a statement last month that the Clippers would match all reasonable offers to their four restricted free agents, although privately the team was determined to allow Miller to leave while building around a core of Brand, Maggette and Odom.

The Heat’s delay in signing Odom to an offer sheet was thought to be tied to its reluctance to see the Clippers match a second offer from Miami this summer. Odom said he had scheduled a meeting for Monday morning with Baylor to demand that the Clippers not match, but a Clipper spokesman said no such meeting was scheduled.

Neither Odom nor Jeff Schwartz, his agent, was available for comment. The Heat did not immediately issue a statement about the signing.

“You’re obligated to be there if you do match,” Brand told a reporter in New York, where he is participating in the U.S. team’s training camp for an Olympic qualifying tournament at Puerto Rico later this month. “So now they matched me, they matched Corey, they got Coach Dunleavy, so hopefully, we’re heading to a brighter future.”

When asked how upset Odom might be about staying with the Clippers, Brand, a childhood friend, said, “After a while -- I’m sure, I hope because I’m there -- this will smooth out.”

Odom has averaged 15.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 230 games over four seasons with the Clippers. Last season, he averaged 14.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 49 games after sitting out the last half of 2001-02 and the first part of the 2002-03 season because of wrist and ankle injuries.

Odom also has been suspended twice by the NBA for violating its anti-drug policy. He served a five-game suspension in March 2002 and an eight-game suspension in November of that year.