Since the possible trade of Lamar Odom and some of his other teammates to acquire Chris Paul was terminated, trade rumors have been running rampant.

Lamar, unaware that he was in the position to be traded, took the news to heart and did not attend training camp. His worry and fret came true, as he is now a former Laker and has officially been traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

"No, the Lakers didn't acquire New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul. In fact, they actually pulled out of the three-team trade proposal involving New Orleans and Houston. Instead, Odom will be traded to the Dallas Mavericks for their first-round pick in the 2012 NBA draft. The Times' Mike Bresnahanreported it's unclear whether the Lakers made that move simply to dump Odom's $17 million salary or use the added funds somehow to acquire Paul or Dwight Howard," reports the LA Times Lakers Blog.

The front office seems to be taking this team into a new direction. What are your thoughts?

Source: globalgrind.com