Big Question, Easy Answer!

Everyone is raving over who the Lakers should keep for next year during free agency. Either Lamar Odom or Trevor Ariza.

Many say keep Ariza because of his potential and great defense, while other say keep Odom because of his versatility and overall talent. However the answer is easy, just keep them both. Both have stated that they'll take less money to stay because they love the team and chemistry that has formed within the organization.

Both were big factors to LA winning the championship and deserve to be payed great salary, but its clear that the money isn't their main focus.

"You want to keep the team together. We just won a championship, you don't want to see one piece not there. Hopefully we can keep everybody here" stated Odom on ESPN.com.

"I'd love to come back. Money is important, this is our job here, but I built a bond with my coaches and my teammates. We have a really good team and I think we'll be good for a long time" stated Ariza. Click here for Ariza story on future with LA.

If your LA, you have to play this smart. You want to repay both of them for their hard work and efforts, but also stay within the cap salary. And I think GM Mitch Kupchak wants to win some more titles and continue to be the best team in the NBA, so he knows he's going to have to keep these players because of their big roles that helped LA this year.

Both Odom and Ariza deserve a bigger pay, but not to the extent everyone is making it out to be. Odom is a great talent, he can run the point, as well be a big man and his post game is ridiculous while being a tremendous rebounder. His long arms make him a great stopper on the defensive end as well. You have to remember that he's 30 though, so the question is how much longer can he play this well?

With Ariza it's a totally different situation. No one believed in this kid, and he proved to both the Knicks & Magic as well as the entire league how good he really is. But Ariza is only known for his three point shot, and defense. Both parts to his game are great, but he needs to add some more mechanics for him to become an elite player.

The Lakers are a young, experienced team who will likely be back in the hunt for the championship next year and that should be all the motivation Odom & Ariza need. And if you let one go, then that will ruin the team's chemistry because both players are instrumental to LA's success.

If I know both men, they'll come back, because they love LA and are going to want to repeat.