Sporting Kansas City trades Lawrence Olum to Portland

Sporting Kansas City announced on Friday that they have traded defender/midfielder Lawrence Olum to the Portland Timbers for a 2018 first round pick and $50,000 in general allocation money.

The 32-year-old spent five seasons with Sporting Kansas City and, while usually was a depth piece as a defender, he played some very significant games. He played all 120 minutes in the 2012 US Open Cup final, then came on and played 112 minutes for the injured Uri Rosell in the 2013 MLS Cup final.

Olum spent the 2015 season in Malaysia before returning to Sporting KC for the 2016 season.

He was likely boxed out of getting any significant minutes with Sporting KC. He would have been fourth on the depth chart with defenders behind Matt Besler, Ike Opara and Kevin Ellis, and third on the defensive midfielder chart behind Soni Mustivar and the recently added Ille Sánchez.

This move knocks down Sporting Kansas City’s roster to 27 players, one short of the limit. They are still one over on international players, where they will need to be compliant before the beginning of the season.

Here’s the full roster.