Shaq to the Heat

[Clarkmeister]

Lakers get Odom, Butler, Grant and a future first round pick.

Obviously if you are the Lakers don't want to trade Daddy, but given that you are forced to, this is probabaly a decent swap. Your team is old, old, old and thin, thin, thin. This adds youth and depth.

The future first rounder is valuable for a team that will still have cap problems. Butler had a terrible 2nd season, but did start to come around at the end of it and in the playoffs. Grant is a solid serviceable center. Odom keeps getting better and is a very good player with perennial All-Star potential. If Payton can change his 'tude under Rudy T, and Karl can rehab and come back, the Lakers could be the favorites in the West again.

I think they did pretty well considering how much they were under duress. One has to assume they have received assurances from Kobe that he will re-sign. Younger and deeper isn't a bad combination, even if you do lose the unstoppable (when healthy) force.

[SossMan]

is this official??

[nothumb]

Clark,

If I am the Lakers, I like this deal.

However, I hope Karl Malone gets hit by a bus so he can never, ever, ever chase Kareem for the all-time scoring record. I hate that man. Payton pissed me off so much this year that I hope they trade him too. Both of those guys were supposed to be team players and get the Lakers a championship, and Payton turned out to be a jerk and Malone, as always, was AWOL during the playoffs.

Now if we can just convince that jury that what's-her-name was asking for it... /images/graemlins/blush.gif /images/graemlins/blush.gif

NT

[Clarkmeister]

ESPN is acting like it's a done deal both on their website, and on Sportscenter, but they are reporting it can't be official until Wednesday due to league rules.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1837581

[Bill Murphy]

"One has to assume they have received assurances from Kobe that he will re-sign."

Kinda like what Cleveland got from Boozer? /images/graemlins/wink.gif /images/graemlins/shocked.gif /images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Bill Murphy]

http://tinyurl.com/2snrf

How sick are Chamberlain's stats? And I thought the stuff at the end about Hakeem being the only one to win a title w/o another HOFer was very interesting. Of course, he didn't have to BEAT any HOFers, either.

I've always had a sneaking suspicion that Dream may well be the best center of all time, athough it's impossible to argue w/Wilt's stats or Russell's rings. Magic made Jabbar period, I don't care what happened at Milwaukee or UCLA.

If you have your all-time team of Magic, MJ, & Bird; then move Russell to the 4; I think Dream "plays" better in that context than Wilt or Shaq, although you could have Ostertag in there and still go 82-0. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[mikeyvegas]

[ QUOTE ]
Of course, he didn't have to BEAT any HOFers, either.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I remember correctly, didn't he go head to head with both Patrick Ewing and Shaq to win his two titles?

[IrishHand]

This is an awful, awful deal for the Lakers. In exchange for the most dominant player in the game you get...an undersized, cap-killing center (Brian Grant), an undersized, weed-puffing power forward that the Clippers didn't like enough to keep (Lamar Odom), a decent small forward (Caron Butler) and a future first which could be worth anything from lots to nothing (with the odds on the latter if it takes place during Shaq's time with Miami).

Even if Kobe resigns, this leaves the Lakers with a glut of SF-types (Odom, Butler, George) and massive holes in the post (Grant, Medvedenko). You'd think they could get at least one all-star for Shaq, and at least a serviceable center. This deal does nothing to help their cap situation. Odom and Butler are solid accessory players, and Odom could possibly turn into an impact player, but they play the same position and both come with baggage.

Miami, of course, should be throwing a party. They've been trying to give Grant away for over a year now and Caron Butler is likewise rumored to be in nearly every potential Heat trade. So, they give up a player they don't want (Grant), a player they don't play (Butler), a guy they got as a FA last year (Odom) and a pick they won't need (Shaq should assure 50 wins in the East alongside Wade) in exchange for Shaq. Shaq is pissed off, motivated and will murder the East.

*sigh*

My only hope is that the Lakers pull a "Boozer" and find a better deal in the next two days before they're allowed to make that one.

[Uston]

2004 postseason:

Lamar Odom, 39.4 mpg
Caron Butler, 39.3 mpg
Dwayne Wade, 39.2 mpg

[Bill Murphy]

Forgot about Ewing. /images/graemlins/shocked.gif /images/graemlins/grin.gif

I remembered Shaq, of course. But wasn't he a rookie or soph? Not quite a HOFer at the time.

But, uh, er, um, doesn't it all just make Dream look better then? /images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[nolanfan34]

This trade reminds me of when the Mariners traded Griffey away. He was so insistant on being traded, that the M's had no leverage, and no chance of getting full value for him.

Shaq just did the same.

The guys the Lakers are getting are solid, but not superstars. You don't think Lamar Odom's former dealers from his time with the Clips aren't celebrating his return to LA? That can't be a good thing.

Caron Butler will really need to pick up his game for this trade to be worth it.

I also would be shocked to see Kobe return to LA now. That's not the start of a championship squad.

[Clarkmeister]

It's official.

[DonWaade]

Good Riddance. Maybe it will not dominate ESPN anymore. There are so many more important things like commercials, funny comments, and minor league games.

[DonWaade]

[ QUOTE ]
I also would be shocked to see Kobe return to LA now. That's not the start of a championship squad.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he certainly will go to the LA Lakers now. Now, he gets all the proverbial ink. He will be the unquestioned "leader." And he ultimatley knows that he will have a better chance at one of the (what is it?) 30 playoff spots than if he goes to the Clips or where ever else. It would have to be the Clippers, Lakers, Knicks or maybe Nets. He cannot have attention that he craves anywhere else.

[andyfox]

"Days after Los Angeles lost this year's championship series to Detroit, O'Neal demanded to be traded, weary of feuding with Kobe Bryant and feeling disrespected by owner Jerry Buss. He's under contract for $27.7 million this coming season and $30.6 million in 2005-06."

I guess Shaq has a different definition of disrespect than I do. Seems to me like he had 58,300,000 reasons to feel Dr. Buss respected him.

[Clarkmeister]

Interesting flame-bait article by Chicago Tribune writer Mike Downey about Shaq:

LOS ANGELES -- And then there are those of us who believe the Los Angeles Lakers will be lucky to be rid of Shaquille O'Neal.

The Big Baby. The Big Ego. The Big Pain in the Butt. The Big Mouth. The Big Back-Stabber.




Shaquille O'Neal, who demanded a trade and is bailing out on the fans of L.A. because (boohoo) the Lakers hurt his feelings.

Shaquille O'Neal, who is abandoning his team and his town, exactly the way he did in Orlando.

Shaquille O'Neal, who has a total of three NBA championships in 12 seasons yet calls himself the most dominant player ever.

Shaquille O'Neal, who can't shoot a basketball beyond 2 feet from the basket.

Shaquille O'Neal, the mighty giant who is so fragile that he missed 28 games his last season with Orlando, 31 games his first season as a Laker, 22 games a season later, 15 games in the 2001-02 season and 15 more in 2002-03.

Shaquille O'Neal, who would put off toe surgery all summer and then have it when the season began.

Shaquille O'Neal, who would show up for camp overweight, with body fat of 20 percent.

Shaquille O'Neal, whose own teammate, Kobe Bryant, called him fat and lazy.

Shaquille O'Neal, whose legs get weaker year by year.

Shaquille O'Neal, whose new team in Miami will need to wonder, as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban put it, "what happens in those 20 to 30 games per year [he] can't play."

Shaquille O'Neal, who mocked his own general manager, Mitch Kupchak, in public.

Shaquille O'Neal, who spat out vulgar words on TV during live interviews.

Shaquille O'Neal, who played Santa for kids at Christmas ... and made sure every TV network in town knew about it.

Shaquille O'Neal, who made 49 percent of his free throws in his 12th NBA season but continued to brag that he could make the important ones anytime he liked.

Shaquille O'Neal, who is being glorified in L.A. as a man who turned the Lakers into champions, when in his first three seasons they won no championships.

Shaquille O'Neal, whose 1996-97 Lakers couldn't even get past Utah in the playoffs.

Shaquille O'Neal, whose 1997-98 Lakers were swept by Utah in four games.

Shaquille O'Neal, whose 1998-99 Lakers got their coach fired in midseason and got blitzed by San Antonio in the playoffs.

Shaquille O'Neal, whose 2003-04 Lakers had the floor mopped up with them by Detroit.

Shaquille O'Neal, who supposedly can turn Miami into a championship team overnight, even though his Orlando team won no titles.

Is it not possible that the Lakers will take the triple-figure millions they save on O'Neal, go out and put together a championship team?

Is it not possible that the Lakers will play more exciting basketball now that they don't need to run Phil Jackson's triangle offense or stand around watching O'Neal blow free throws?

Is it not possible that Lakers owner Jerry Buss was justified in trading a player who demanded to be traded? Who refused to play for a new coach? Who couldn't get along with the team's other star player?

Is it not possible that Los Angeles will be better off, 3,000 miles from Shaquille O'Neal's mumbling, his grumbling, his moping, his malingering and his Grammy-losing rap music?

A lot of people out here obviously think that L.A. is making a big mistake in letting the big man go to Miami.

But there still are a few of us who think that the city that is getting the big problem is Miami.