MKRob Sports

The Miami Heat and Lamar Odom have discussed a deal that would approach the $9 million salary the free-agent forward nearly agreed to last week with the Los Angeles Lakers before talks broke down, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has reported.

The Heat, who traded Odom to the Lakers five years ago in the trade that brought Shaquille O’Neal to South Florida, have made Odom a firm offer to return, according to The Associated Press. The offer is believed to be a five-year package worth around $35 million, the AP reported.

Pat Riley, addressing Heat season-ticket holders in a two-day session Wednesday and Thursday that was closed to media, said the Heat were also monitoring Carlos Boozer‘s status with the Utah Jazz but had not entered discussions on acquiring the forward.

Riley said the team could add Odom, Boozer or both without sacrificing its goals toward 2010′s free-agent class, the Sun-Sentinel reported, citing people in attendance at the private sit-ins and sources involved in the Heat’s dealings.

Florida’s lack of state taxes and other payment options give the Heat the ability to offer Odom a contract matching the scrapped Lakers deal, the Fort Lauderdale newspaper reported.

The Lakers retracted their offer to Odom early this week, saying that talks had stalled.

Sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein that Odom had balked at the Lakers’ unwillingness to extend an offer spanning more than three years in length.

“There are specifics behind why we pulled it, but that’s not something we’re going to get into,” Lakers public relations director John Black said.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Lakers owner Jerry Buss offered Odom two deals, one worth $36 million for four years and the other $10 million a season for three years.

Odom, who will turn 30 in November, made $14.1 million this past season.

Dwyane Wade, who spent much of his rookie season picking Odom’s brain, said he hopes those chats start again soon.

“I want Lamar to do what’s best for him and his family because we love him as family, but on the other hand, we want him back home, to come home,” Wade said Friday in a telephone interview with the AP. “His house is still there. It’d be exciting to see what happens.”

Odom averaged 17.1 points — the second-highest average of his career — in 80 games with the Heat during the 2003-04 season.

The Heat went 42-40 that season with Odom, winning 17 of their final 21 regular-season games and earning the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference. That summer, Miami traded Caron Butler, Brian Grant and Odom to the Lakers for O’Neal, who helped Wade and the Heat win a championship two years later.

Odom spent the past five years with the Lakers, during which he played a key role off the bench in their 2009 championship run. He averaged 12.3 points and 9.1 rebounds during the playoffs.

Wade, who has asked the Heat to make some roster upgrades with hopes of getting back to the championship level, said he doesn’t need to call Odom to lobby for his return.

“Lamar already knows how I feel,” Wade said. “I really don’t know how to feel. He’s really taken time to deal with it, sit back. It’s a very important decision in his life. It could be about where he ends his career.”

Over his 10-year career, the versatile 6-foot-10 Odom has averaged 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds.

“Lamar and I always had a great relationship,” Wade said. “He’s always been the guy, one of the guys, that I thought really helped me as a young player.”