Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers indeed made a formal trade request to the Minnesota Timberwolves involving Lamar Odom, and that the Timberwovles rejected the trade.
According to Turner the Lakers offered Odom for the number two overall pick in tomorrow night’s NBA Draft, which Los Angeles would reportedly use to draft former Arizona forward Derrick Williams.
The prospect of Odom in a Minnesota uniform was less than tempting for Timberwolves officials, especially since they already have Kevin Love at the power forward position. It seems to make more sense that Minnesota was more interested in the trade rumor that surfaced earlier in the week involving Los Angeles forward Pau Gasol.
As an attempt at a counter offer Minnesota reportedly offered the number two pick for either Gasol or Andrew Bynum, but Los Angeles officials have already declared both players are off the trading block.
This reduces the chances that the Lakers will make a major deal before tomorrow’s draft fairly unlikely, which in turn will most likely mean the team won’t make a big time trade during the off-season.