While the Heat snatched Lamar Odom, Fleisher said free agent forward/center Sean Marks is considering an invitation to the Clippers' training camp.

The carefully conceived plan has worked.

The Heat has managed to pry restricted free agent Lamar Odom from the Clippers, giving the team its most significant free agent signing of the summer.

Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor said in a statement Monday that the Clippers have declined to match the Heat's six-year, $65 million offer sheet to Odom.

''After long and careful consideration, we have elected not to match the offer sheet presented to us by Lamar Odom,'' Baylor said. ``In the final analysis, the decision was based on issues of character and other risks involved.''

Baylor's criticism of Odom's character is in reference to Odom's two suspensions for violating the league's anti-drug policy. But Baylor was also upset Odom made negative comments about the Clippers more than two weeks ago.

Odom called the Clippers ''basketball hell,'' and he believed he was ''running in muddy waters'' with the team.

But Odom chose not to take a return shot at the Clippers on Monday, choosing instead to focus on his future.

''I'm really looking forward to having a brand new start and helping this team win and turning into a man,'' Odom said via telephone. ``The Clippers questioning my character really doesn't matter to me, especially when I have a guy like Coach Riley vouching for me.''

Odom, who was heading from Los Angeles to Miami Monday night, found out about the Clippers' statement Monday afternoon.

''I was elated,'' said Odom, who will likely be introduced in a news conference Wednesday. ``I was going to work out before I heard, and it gave me a lot more energy to work out.''

Odom has not spoke to Riley since hearing the news, but he did speak with Riley early Monday and told Riley how grateful he was.

''If they asked me to run through a wall for them right now, I would,'' Odom said.

Lamar Odom will join the Heat.

The Clippers have decided not to match the six-year, $65 million offer sheet to the versatile forward Monday.

"After long and careful consideration, we have elected not to match the offer sheet presented to us by Lamar Odom. In the final analysis, the decision was based on issues of character and other risks involved," Clippers GM Elgin Baylor said in a statement.

After more than two decades without signing a high-priced free agent or retaining a marquee player, Clippers owner Donald Sterling has committed $124 million this off-season by matching offers to restricted free agents Elton Brand (six years, $82 million from Miami) and Corey Maggette (six years, $42 million from Utah). Letting Odom go to Miami would represent significant savings for Sterling, but that would make Odom the fourth significant L.A. free agent this summer -- along with center Michael Olowokandi, point guard Andre Miller and sharpshooter Eric Piatkowski -- to leave the club without compensation.

The Lamar Odom countdown is at T-minus three days. So might be the Heat season, which seems to be hanging on the whims of the lowly Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers, who haven't made the playoffs since the 1996-97 season, have until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday to decide to match the Heat's six-year, $65 million offer sheet for Odom.

As the hourglass runs down, Odom continues to express his desire to play for the Heat.

"All I can do now is hope I get the news in a few days that I will be playing for the Heat," Odom told ESPN.com Saturday. "I've spoken to [Clippers owner Donald Sterling and GM Elgin Baylor] by phone to let them know my desire to play in Miami."

Their Staples Center co-tenant, the Lakers, hog the bulk of national exposure, so most Heat fans have only seen glimpses of the gangly Clippers forward on the evening highlights.

So who is Odom and why are the Heat and president/coach Pat Riley banking the future on this gifted 23-year-old underachiever?

With the 15-day countdown winding down and reports continuing to hint that the Clippers will not match the Heat's offer sheet to Lamar Odom, the player himself continues to hold his breath.

''I've done everything I had to do and now we just have to wait,'' Odom said via telephone Friday, four days before the Clippers are forced to make a decision on whether to let him go. ``We'll find out on Tuesday how effective it really was.''

Odom has done everything he can to force the Clippers' hand in the matter, including criticizing the organization publicly and sending obvious signals to the Clippers' front office that he wants out. Odom said he also tried to meet with Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor to express in person his desire to leave the team, but such a meeting never took place.

''It never happened,'' Odom said. ``I tried everything I could to do it, but it just didn't happen.''

There is a notion that Odom, who signed a six-year offer sheet worth $65 million with the Heat, did all that work just to get an offer sheet signed, therefore guaranteeing him the money regardless of which team he plays for. Negotiations with the Clippers resulted in just a three-year, $24 million offer, making the Heat's offer a significant improvement.

But Odom reiterated Friday that his desire to play for Heat coach Pat Riley is genuine, and he did not criticize the Clippers just to convince the Heat to sign him to the offer sheet.

''Everybody is going to have their opinion, but if you ask coach Riley if he thinks I was being loyal to him, you'll find out the truth,'' Odom said.

The Jazz missed out on their No. 1 free-agent target this summer. But Elton Brand says Utah might not realize what a narrow miss it was.

Brand seriously considered the Jazz's six-year, $82 million offer and for a time, at least, "there was a great chance" that he would accept it.

"The Jazz were right there at the end," said Brand, who is helping Team USA qualify for the Athens Olympics at this week's qualifying tournament. "It was down to the wire. I saw positives about both [Miami and Utah], and there was definitely a time where I could see myself in Utah. It was a real tough decision."

Ultimately a meaningless one, too. Brand, a former top overall pick in the NBA draft, ended up accepting an offer for an identical maximum-money contract from the Heat, but as a restricted free agent, his old team retained the right to match it and keep him. The L.A. Clippers waited only a few days before doing so.

Still, Brand said, he was tempted by more than Utah's money. The Jazz offered the four-year veteran a chance to operate within the same offense that helped make the team's last power forward a future Hall of Famer.

"I really liked the way that Karl Malone touched the ball a lot. I felt pretty good about that. I could see myself fitting right in there," Brand said. "They showed me how I would get the ball, [and] they hoped they had [free-agent guard] Corey Maggette maybe coming in. They play defense and they're there every year, always in the playoffs. It was a really good offer."

The Los Angeles Clippers have until Tuesday to decide whether to match the Heat's six-year, $65 million offer to Lamar Odom. While most believe the Clippers have yet to make a definitive decision on Odom, one Clippers source told ESPN.com that the team is leaning toward not matching the offer.

''Why use up all our cap room on Lamar when we could do better next summer,'' the source said, referring to the fact that the team will have better than $10 million in cap space next summer if it does not re-sign Odom.

''We love Lamar, but it's going to be difficult to justify spending that kind of money on him,'' the source said of Odom, who has twice been suspended for violating the league's anti-drug policy. ``As talented as he is, his play and his attitude don't warrant that type of money.''

The Clippers have announced the signing of free agent guard Quinton Ross.

Ross averaged 20.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 30 games played at Southern Methodist University during the 2002-03 season. Ross also connected on 191-422 FG (.453) and 184-232 FT (.793) on the year.

Earning WAC Player of the Year and First Team All-WAC honors as a senior, Ross was also named Honorable Mention All-America by the Associated Press. Over his four-year collegiate career, Ross tallied 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 119 games. He finished his career at SMU as the school?s fourth all-time leading scorer (1,763 points), in addition to ranking third in three-pointers made (170), third in free throws made (443), fifth in blocked shots (81) and sixth in steals (153).

With a week until the deadline for the Clippers to match the Heat's six-year, $65 million offer sheet for restricted free agent Lamar Odom, there is still much speculation.

While one high-ranking team executive feels the Clippers will match despite owner Donald Sterling's protests, three agents who have regular dealings with the Clippers said they are leaning toward letting the 6-foot-10 Odom go. It seems the Clippers were reluctant to shell out $15 million during the first year, including $12 million up front on a player who has missed 84 games over the past two seasons.

"I spoke to a Clippers official and he thinks the Heat were overzealous with their offer and that he doesn't think Sterling will match," an agent said.

The Clippers matched the Heat's $82.2 million offer for forward Elton Brand in just three days, but took 10 days before matching Utah's $42 million offer for guard Corey Maggette.

The NBA confirmed Monday that the 15-day deadline will end at 11:59 p.m. Aug. 26. Neither the Clippers nor the Heat is commenting on the issue.

Apparently, not even Odom has a clue as to which uniform he will be wearing this season. Odom has disparaged the Clippers in recent weeks, while politicking to play for the Heat and coach Pat Riley.

"He has no idea," said David Chapman, a close friend who spent the past four days with Odom. "I know what he wants but if it happens, that's two different things. I can't see the Clippers keeping him after he has told them he wants to go."

Alone on a summer afternoon at her family's new home in Long Beach, Gaynell Cotton unpacked boxes in silence, deciding which shelves would be for glasses and which for plates, the same ones she used to feed the college coaches, agents, reporters, photographers, NCAA officials and friends who used to beat a path to her door.

A few miles away, her youngest son, Schea, 25, was playing for the Clippers' summer league team at Long Beach State.

He missed the two shots he attempted that day, finishing with a final line that read: 19 minutes, no points, three rebounds, one assist, three fouls.

His dad, nicknamed Big James, and 27-year-old brother, Little James, who was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in 1997, mingled among the standing-room-only gathering. Wearing his signature white cowboy hat, Big James could not be missed ? the main reason Gaynell chose not to attend.

"I don't want to deal with them people in the stands, listening to all that crazy stuff they say, that my son's confused, that he's troubled," she said later in the day. "I don't want to hear that no more.