The Lakers will trade Lamar Odom to the Mavericks for a traded player exception worth approximately $8.9 million.

The move is not necessarily to pursue Dwight Howard, as sources say it is a "straight salary dump". But it is difficult to imagine the Lakers trading Odom to a Western Conference rival to merely save money.

Dallas will send their own first round pick in 2012 and possibly a second rounder as well.

The Lakers shopped Odom around the league to teams with cap space.

"He wanted out and they really wanted to reduce the tax bill," said one general manager.