No Heat Offer to Odom Yet

Lamar Odom left Miami on Wednesday without an offer sheet in hand, but perhaps with added leverage in future negotiations. So the ball bounces back into the Clipper court in the ongoing financial struggle to secure the rights to the 6-foot-10 forward.

Odom, a restricted free agent who has spent all four of his NBA seasons with the Clippers, spent 24 hours in Miami along with his agent, Jeff Schwartz, meeting with Heat officials. There is no indication negotiations with Miami are dead.

Odom is seeking a deal that would pay him $9 million to $10 million a year. He has a three-year offer of $21-24 million from the Clippers on the table. He could also roll the dice, take a one-year qualifying offer of $4.5 million from the Clippers and gamble that he can show he is worth the maximum allowable financial outlay next season.

Schwartz, who was unavailable for comment Wednesday, laid out his strategy last week.

“If they are not going to give him his market value, then he’s not going to do a deal just to do a deal,” Schwartz said. “He’s comfortable with a one-year deal. I think he knows the type of player he is and, if it takes one more year for the league to see that, then that’s what he’ll do.”

The concern about Odom is his durability, not his skill level. Because of injuries and his second drug-related suspension in the last three seasons, Odom has played in only 78 games over the last two seasons.

Miami, the Denver Nuggets or other clubs interested in Odom may yet extend him an offer sheet. But all might wait until the middle of next week when the Clippers must show their hand on two of their other restricted free agents. That is the deadline for the club to match offer sheets signed by guards Corey Maggette (Utah Jazz, six years, $42 million) and Andre Miller (Nuggets, six years, $51 million).

Decisions on those players will let Odom and all concerned know how much money remains in the Clipper pot.