According to David Vassegh of AM 570, the L.A. Lakers will pursue Sam Cassell at the request of Kobe Bryant.

The Clippers were rumored to be only willing to offer Cassell a one-year deal.

If the Lakers offer a multi-year deal, it may entice either Cassell to head to the Lakers or the Clippers to also make a multi-year offer.

Less than 24 hours had passed since Jordan Farmar had been drafted by the L.A. Lakers and his cell phone had been ringing off the hook.

Low and behold, it rang again, but this time it was no ordinary call. On the other side of the phone was NBA superstar Kobe Bryant.

"That was the best way to start my career, to get a phone call from the best player in the NBA," Farmar said at a news conference.

Farmar said that the conversation lasted less than five minutes, but was very meaningful to him.

The trade of Maurice Evans to the Lakers on draft night might help the Pistons keep defensive powerhouse Ben Wallace, the Detroit Free Press is reporting.  Removing Evans' salary from the team's payroll might help keep the team out of luxury tax waters.

Dumars said Evans' agent, Roger Montgomery, made it clear he'd rather go elsewhere if his playing time wasn't going to increase.

Los Angeles Lakers player Lamar Odom's 6?-month-old son has died, a spokesman for the team said Thursday.

According to John Black, Jayden Odom died Wednesday night, apparently suffocating while sleeping in his crib in New York.

"Lamar is very distraught," Black said. "Both he and the baby's mother are asking that people respect their privacy at this time."

Detroit dealt Maurice Evans to the Los Angeles Lakers for the rights to Cheick Samb, a 7-1 center from Senegal. Samb was taken with the 51st pick.

"We felt there just weren't going to be enough minutes" for Evans, Dumars said. "His agent called and said they might want to be somewhere where more minutes would be available, and we tried to make that happen."

The Los Angeles Lakers have been unsuccessful in their attempts to make a deal and move up in the NBA draft, The Ledger is reporting.

That could still happen, but general manager Mitch Kupchak says he's not expecting it.

"I think everybody wants to move up, there's a cost associated with moving up," Kupchak said. "We'd like to move up. (But) we don't have a trade about to happen, and we're not trying to trade Chris (Mihm), Lamar (Odom) or Andrew (Bynum)."

Mitch Kupchak has downplayed trade rumors involving Andrew Bynum, even saying he joked with Bynum about them.

"I kidded with him that we're not going to trade him. I said I wanted to see one more year of play before I make that decision. He jerked his head and looked at me," Kupchak said. "We're not going to trade Andrew. We're very happy with his progress."

It is strongly rumored that Marcus Banks is headed for the Los Angeles Lakers.

It was two years ago when the Celtics and the Lakers made a trade that had Banks going to the Lakers and Gary Payton moving to the Celtics. The deal hit a roadbock when Payton failed a physical and the deal was called off.

The Lakers have been trying to land Banks ever since, and that is where he is likely to be when the 2006-2007 season starts.

With the Lakers going with Kwame Brown at center, Pete Vecsey is reporting that Andrew Bynum will be available in a trade.

Bynum is very much an unknown quantity since he played very little in his rookie campaign and didn't play a single season in college.

According to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com, Phil Jackson believes Brandon Roy is the perfect player for the triangle offense and so the Lakers are talking with teams in the top 5 about trading up.

One rumor has them sending Lamar Odom to Chicago in return for the rights to the #2 and #16 picks.

This trade might have to be consummated after the draft, when Chicago has cap space to take on a bigger contract. Moving Odom?s $40 million contract would give the Lakers room to explore the talented free agent class of 2007. This may be where the obvious Brandon Roy to Chicago at #2 smokescreen started from.