Deadline Passes With No Activity

Lamar Odom walked to his locker, which still had his name on it, and threw on a jersey belonging to the Lakers, who were still his employers after the trade deadline came and went Thursday afternoon without any Laker activity.

Mentioned in some legitimate trade discussions, and also in a fair share of off-the-wall rumors, Odom ended up staying put, resuming his job description as the facilitator of Phil Jackson’s triangle offense.

“I don’t worry about it,” Odom said of the trade winds. “It can happen to anybody. There’s only a couple players that are never going to get traded. I’m secure with my position, my ability. You can’t wake up every day thinking about that.”

Just the same, Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak felt the need to call Odom to dispel a rumor last week that he would be traded to Orlando for Steve Francis.

Odom was, however, mentioned in more plausible trade scenarios with New York, although the Knicks were unwilling to part with rookie Channing Frye.

“It’s something that’s going to happen,” Odom said. “Can’t stop it from happening. They mention Allen Iverson being traded [to Denver], and he averages 30 points. No big deal.”

Odom was averaging 14 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists before Thursday.

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As has been their history, the Lakers did not conduct a deadline-day deal, making it nine consecutive seasons they’ve taken a pass on last-minute trades.

“We had a couple things that we were close, but nothing happened out of it,” Jackson said.

This guarantees the Lakers will not pay luxury tax this season because they are about $3 million under the tax threshold of $61.7 million. The Lakers will still enter the off-season an estimated $15 million over a to-be-determined salary cap for the 2006-07 season.

The last Laker deadline-day deal came when shooting guard George McCloud was acquired from New Jersey for Joe Kleine and draft picks in February 1997.