Lamar Odom is headed to the Los Angeles Clippers and Mo Williams is headed to the Utah Jazz after both teams were able to pull off three-way trade along with the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. The deal went through after Williams reportedly agreed to accept his $8.5 million player option for the 2012-13 season.
Mo Williams will pick up '12-'13 option and accept trade to Utah, league source says.
— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) June 29, 2012
If Williams had declined the option, the deal would have have fell through. The Mavericks needed to take back Odom's salary in the trade for the deal to go through, but they were not interested in Williams or absorbing his salary. The Jazz were brought in as a third team capable of taking on the point guard, presuming he didn't opt for free agency.
If Dallas had been unable to trade Odom by June 30, they would have had to pay the forward $2.4 million of his $8.9 million due next season in order to cut him.
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